Small town on fastest internet

A SMALL town in Yorkshire now has access to the fastest internet speeds in the whole country after cable firm Virgin Media chose it as one of the launch points for its new 100Mbs broadband service.
By The Newsroom
Published 8th Dec 2010, 10:48 BST
Updated 8th Dec 2010, 10:49 BST

The residents of Heckmondwike in West Yorkshire can from today sign up for the new "ultra-fast" fibre-optic internet service to their homes, offering download speeds nearly 20 times faster than the national average and enabling a host of new capabilities including high-definition video conferencing and near-instant film downloads.

Virgin intends to roll the new 100Mbs service out across all parts of the country already covered by its cable network over the next 12 months, but said it decided to start with Heckmondwike, along with Colchester, Barry and Farnborough, to ensure a wide geographic spread for yesterday's launch.

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Virgin director Jon James said: "The launch of our 100Mbs service is a significant milestone in the UK's broadband evolution and a vivid illustration of the power of our next generation network.

"We know residents in Heckmondwike will be blown away by what 100Mbs can deliver, and the very real impact this can have on day-to-day life – be it uploading pictures to share, or downloading a music album in seconds."

The 45-a-month service offers download speeds twice as fast as anything previously available on the commercial market, and way beyond the average broadband connection speed of 5.2Mbs.

Related topics:Virgin MediaWest Yorkshire