Virgin Media rolls out new 1 gigabit broadband nationwide

If you’ve been keeping an eye out for faster broadband speeds in your area well then today is your lucky day!

Virgin Media has officially announced the launch of its brand new broadband product which will see new and existing customers able to sign up and receive speeds of up to 1Gbps.

Unlike similar broadband speeds already available from rivals Sky, Eir, Vodafone and Pure Telecom, Virgin’s new broadband speed is available to customers right across the country, covering almost 98% of its existing network or nearly one million homes and premises.

Do we have your attention yet?

We take a closer look at the news below and what's available for customers looking to sign up...

What’s new?

From today new and existing customers of Virgin Media will be able to sign up to its brand new 1Gbps broadband, with a number of different deals available for customers who are interested.

This is the first time broadband speeds this fast have been so widely available to customers in Ireland and will do well to help democratise faster broadband speeds for all consumers - helping to heat up competition with other suppliers at the same time.

What’s more, today’s announcement makes Virgin Media the country’s largest gigabit broadband provider, making speeds as quick as 1Gbps available to 97.5% of premises across its network - rather impressive, wouldn't you say?

Appetite for the newly launched speeds may well prove big, too, with recent research conducted by Virgin Media showing a 40% increase in data usage and a 22% increase in Wi-Fi usage across its high speed residential broadband network from March to June of this year.

Speaking about the news, Vice President of Commercial at Virgin Media, Paul Higgins said:

“We’re proudly leading the charge to make Ireland faster by offering gigabit connectivity across our footprint. No ‘roll outs’, no timeframes, just 1Gb broadband now, for everyone.

“We’re not announcing plans or ambitions or focusing on limited areas. Instead, from today, we’re providing lightning fast broadband connectivity across the country on our gigabit network. We’re able to do this as a result of our constant investment across many years in our infrastructure and network capacity, now totalling over €1 billion, together with the most advanced in-home customer experience.”

The deals

Virgin Media has two separate deals on offer, both incorporating its newly available and lightning quick gigabit broadband. 

The first is a single play, broadband-only deal, while the second comes in the form of a triple play broadband and TV deal.

Both offers come with a free Google Chromecast, Virgin Media’s Sports Anywhere Pass, as well as its brand new Hub 2.0 to accommodate next level 1Gbps speeds.

Take a look at the new deals available in more depth below.

Naked 1GB 

Virgin is offering new customers this broadband-only deal with speeds of up to 1Gbps, and at the reduced price of €60 for the first six months and €85 thereafter.

The offer includes a free Google Chromecast (RRP €39), free access to Virgin Media’s Sports Anywhere Pass, as well as its brand new Hub 2.0.

The broadband deal comes on a standard 12 month contract, but Virgin Media doesn’t charge for any initial set-up, so total first year costs for new customers come to €870, including the brand new equipment and free Chromecast that comes included.

If you’ve got a big family or are living in a house share where a number of people are working from home, these considerably faster speeds are tailored perfectly for you, with the ability to download a fully HD, 12GB movie in only 4 seconds. Now that’s fast!

Sign up to this deal in seconds over on bonkers.ie today.

Virgin Full House 1GB

The telecommunications provider is also offering customers a triple play deal with its new gigabit speeds, as well as home phone and TV services for a discounted first year cost of €82 per month.

Alongside incredibly fast broadband speeds customers will also have access to over 100 TV channels, including anytime calls to Irish landlines and mobiles with its home phone offering.

The deal comes on a 12-month contract which is standard these days, however, it will revert to €112 per month after the initial discount period expires, so customers can expect to pay a total first year cost of €984 - which is quite reasonably considering what comes with.

Similar to its broadband-only offer, Virgin is including all the same freebies with this triple play bundle, with a Google Chromecast, Sports Anywhere Pass and its new Hub 2.0 router included at no extra cost.

Sign up to this triple play broadband bundle right now on bonkers.ie.

Introducing...Hub 2.0

If you’re thinking of signing up to Virgin’s new ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ broadband speeds, you’ll also be on the receiving end of its brand new Wi-Fi router, Hub 2.0.

The upgraded router comes in a sleek new black case and incorporates enhanced Wi-Fi hardware, capable of supplying and maintaining the heady speeds of 1Gbps so customers can enjoy better WiFi performance overall.

Take a look below for how the new router compares to the original white Virgin Media Hub which most customers will be familiar with.

How does it compare?

The launch of Virgin Media’s new gigabit broadband is great news for consumers, finally making lightning-quick broadband available across the country and to an impressive 97.5% of its existing network.

That point alone is most impressive and one that will undoubtedly be the reason for a lot of switches taking place over the coming days and weeks on bonkers.ie.

For many consumers who have been looking to sign up to faster broadband speeds, one of the biggest problems they face is the still sparse availability of 1,000Mbps speeds, only available in select locations.

For example, in many towns and cities across the country there are many who might not have access to SIRO-powered broadband, but not five minutes down the road a neighbour or friend could have the infrastructure which would allow them to receive these faster speeds.

However, Virgin Media has so far invested over €1 billion in its infrastructure and network capacity which has opened the door for today’s announcement.

Virgin Media’s democratization of speeds is a massive boon for not only businesses, but for residential customers who are looking for the fastest speeds on offer. And that brings us on to our next point.

While the speeds Virgin Media is offering are fantastic, its broadband only deal is rather pricey, coming in at €870 for the first 12 months, taking into account all the freebies included.

This deal isn’t the cheapest by any stretch but is certainly tempting for those who have been waiting for access to speeds this high and haven’t been able to get access elsewhere.

That being said, there are certainly cheaper deals with other providers for those who don’t require a 1Gbps connection, but want a high speed connection nonetheless. It’s even possible to get Virgin’s own Naked 500 plan for €186 cheaper, but still receive speeds of up to 500Mbps.

For those customers looking to sign up to a super-fast triple play bundle, Virgin Media’s second offer provides a smidge more value, with 1Gbps broadband, home phone and TV on offer for €984 for the year.

Again, while there are cheaper options available from the likes of Voadafone and Eir, the real incentive is clearly the draw of 1Gbps speeds. However, when you consider you’re also getting access to 111 TV channels, the Sports Anywhere Pass, a free Google Chromecast, as well as the most up-to-date WiFi technology, the value starts to become pretty clear.

Always compare

Remember, if you're looking for the fastest broadband deals you can compare the best prices over on bonkers.ie.

When you use our broadband comparison tool you can compare all deals from all providers in just seconds.

So what are you waiting for? Switch and save today!