Virgin Media plans faster broadband offering

Cable operator, Virgin Media, is launching a trial of superfast broadband speeds, as part of its strategy to focus on its broadband service and grow its customer base.

The company believes it is better able to compete in the broadband sector than the premium TV market, where it faces competition from Sky.

Virgin already offers 20 megabits per second broadband to some customers. It has also successfully tested a 50 megabits per second service, which could offer high-definition programming on demand.

The new strategy is designed to help the company recover from a recent dispute with BSkyB, which resulted in Sky removing its basic channels from Virgin Media’s cable service.

The dispute cost Virgin Media up to 40,000 customers.