Virgin defends broadband speeds

The research showed that less than 9% of users received more than 6Mbps

Most broadband users are not getting the internet speeds they are paying for, according to Internet watchdog Ofcom. Its survey found that nearly one in five broadband customers on an eight Megabit per second (Mbps) connection actually receive less than 2Mbps. Newsbeat presenter Tulip Mazumdar asked Virgin's Asam Ahmad why speeds were slower than promised.

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You did best in the report, but still your customers aren't getting the top speeds, why is that?

What the report shows is that Virgin Media customers do in fact receive very much closer to the advertised speed than other providers. However, there are many factors that can affect what speeds people actually receive. For example, it can be the computers that people are using - whether they are fast enough - and whether they are using a wireless broadband connection, which can also slow down speeds.

As you say, you are providing the best service out of everyone according to this report, but you are still not giving people what they pay for, and what they expect?

That's not strictly true. What the report does show is that on average our performance is very close to our "headline" speed. So in the case of Virgin Media and our 10 Megabit per second (Mbps) product, we are providing 8.7 out of that, so that's 87%. That's nearly 90% of the actual speed we are advertising, so in our case, yes, people are getting as close to that speed as possible.

Why advertise 10Mbps when you are only giving eight?

Remember that is an average, in a lot of cases customers will be receiving that full 10Mbps, but of course, just like traffic on road ways, when the internet does get busy speeds can slow down. But what it does show is that Virgin Media's network is very much more resilient to traffic levels than comparative providers.

The research showed that less than 9% of users received more than 6Mbps

We've got a text from Andy in Pontypool. He says he's paying for eight Mbps but only getting three.

Well that can be a factor of many things. Obviously this customer is on an ADSL connection - a type of broadband that is delivered over your telephone wire, which is different to the Virgin Media cable service. Being a distance away from the exchange means the line length is longer, which means it is more susceptible to interference, which can slow down speeds.

Is that a good enough reason - that you don't happen to live near one of these connections. Everyone pays the same don't they?

They do indeed, but what we are doing, certainly with our ADSL service, is upgrading the technology to ensure customers are able to receive the best speed that their line can support. We are taking a unique stand in that respect to try and drive better broadband for the UK. I can't talk for the other providers, but we are very focused on improving broadband for the UK.

Given on average people are getting use of eight Mbps when paying for 10, are you going to change advertising to say you can get on average eight as opposed to 10?

We are certainly looking at ways to improve our marketing. We obviously have a clear margin between ourselves and our competitors, so being in that leading position, a certain amount of responsibility falls on us to help define the market and we are making steps towards that.

We've got another text from Dominic. He says he pays Virgin for 8.1Mbps but he's only getting two - maximum. He says he phoned Virgin the other day and was told it was because of his area. But he doesn't live in a rural area, he lives right in the middle of Birmingham city centre?

We can certainly look into any customer issues - we are really proud of our network and we will fix issues if there are any. It does sound like an isolated case if it's on a cable network.

I don't think it is that isolated because we've had quite a few people texting in with similar problems...

We've got over three million customers on our cable service. A very small percentage might have a few issues here and there, but by and large all of our customers get very a good service.