At the risk of repeating myself, I was delighted to read this week that Virgin Media is to spend serious money (£110m) in upgrading its network – potentially offering its customers broadband speeds of up to 120 Mbps.
As a veteran of the UK Cable industry, I remember my concern when Virgin originally took control of the weary industry survivors, ntl and Telewest. The initial emphasis on branding, marketing and ‘back office’ issues was both understandable and warranted but I was dismayed at the new group’s apparent distaste for the more technical aspects of its new acquisition. The decision to outsource some of its network management activity to BT appeared to underline this apparent lack of interest in ‘plumbing’ matters. Then and now, I found it incredible that the Cable sector seemed willing to forego its unique strategic advantage over broadband competitors – the undisputed superiority of DOCSIS 3.0 technology over copper-based alternatives. Happily, if he was ever in any doubt, Virgin’s CEO (Neil Berkett) now gets it:
“This long term network advantage, combined with fast-growing consumer demand, means that today we have a window of opportunity to simultaneously step change the UK market, decisively differentiate our consumer proposition and transform our customers' digital experience." Amen.
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