Virgin launches superfast broadband in the UK

Virgin Media has today announced a broadband service twice the speed of their nearest rival, at 50Mb. They’ve been trialling it in a few places in the UK, but now promise to begin rolling out for real this month, with complete coverage by June next year.

Virgin reckon the speed will allow you to download a TV show in around one minute, a high quality movie in as little as 3½ minutes and a high definition movie in around 15 minutes. But such wonderfulness doesn’t come cheap…

They’ll be asking you to shell out £51 a month, or £35 if you take you a phone line at the same time, which is £11 a month. A spokesperson last week said “It will be premium-priced – I see no reason to go in cheap.” And gosh darn it, he’s right – a decent broadband speed is one of the things I will shell out for (over and above food, in fact).

You can find out if your area is covered here.