LONDON -- The UK has some of the slowest broadband speeds in Europe. It means Virgin Media's announcement Friday to invest heavily in the broadband infrastructure will be welcomed by anyone who has struggled to download a file or stream a movie.
The company claims the £3 billion ($4.6 billion) announcement is the single largest investment in the UK's broadband infrastructure for more than 10 years.
Over the next five years Virgin said it will improve its fibre optic broadband network, made up of strands of thin glass that carry information over long distances, bringing speeds of up to 152Mbps to four million more homes and businesses.
Internet connections in London are often less than 24Mbps, and rural parts of Britain are much worse. The average download speed across the UK is 29Mbps, according to Ookla, this compares poorly with other parts of Europe like Sweden and Romania where average speeds are over 50Mbps.
Virgin said it will be focusing its expansion on areas that are close to Virgin Media's existing network. This is likely bad news for those in rural parts of the country as the company's current network is mostly based around cities and other urban areas.
Broadband Delivery UK, which is part of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport is tasked with providing 'superfast' broadband, defined as 24Mbps or more, to 90% of the UK as well as providing basic broadband, 2Mbps, for all by 2016.
Last month, BT promised "ultrafast" broadband of up to up to 500Mbps for the UK within a decade.