Last year, Virgin Media gave millions of customers on its M100 and M200 tiers a free speed boost.
At the time, there was nothing for those on more expensive broadband packages, but now the company has offered a free upgrade – albeit one that’s not quite as generous as last year’s freebie.
The company has announced that customers of the M500 and Gig 1 packages will get a big boost to their upload speeds. On average, customers of the former will see their average uploads go from 36Mbps to 52Mbps, while those on the latter plan will jump from 52Mbps to 104Mbps.
Gareth Turpin, Virgin Media’s chief commercial officer, said that the move was reflective of “record upstream demand” thanks to “more people regularly working from home, using video calling apps and new advances in gaming”.
It is an extremely welcome upgrade, with the Gig 1 plan’s doubling allowing for upload speeds that are six times faster than the UK average. The increase kicks in next week, and customers simply need to reboot their hub to benefit.
But we can’t help noticing that it is not quite as generous as the offering to M100 and M200 customers last year, who benefited from significant increases to both their upload and download speeds.
That said, there is a case that the M500 and Gig 1 packages don’t really need any more download speed. They offer respective averages of 516Mbps and 1,130Mbps already, which is more than enough for most people.
Of the consumer packages Virgin Media offers – discounting subsidised Essential ones to those on income support – two are yet to receive a free upgrade. The M50 package (54Mbps down, 5Mbps up) and the M350 package (362Mbps down, 36Mbps up). Virgin Media has not said whether or not these are in line for an upgrade.
