Re: Virgin Media 70, 150 & 200 Mb Upgrades
 

No point. Very little competition and even less desire on the part of most to pay. :)

---------- Post added at 20:45 ---------- Previous post was at 20:44 ----------

Price after 4 months €60

Re: Virgin Media 70, 150 & 200 Mb Upgrades
 

€60 after three months but that's £45.70 ish, about what I'm paying right now for 200Mb and phone, so we are getting ripped off in my opinion.

Some claim they can do such packages in Ireland because the network is tiny compared to the UK's but it has obviously had more investment than the UK network has, I hope that Liberty Global ramps up the investment in the UK and don't charge us outrageous amounts of cash compared to their other divisions.

It just seems like there's a lack of competition in the UK right now.

Re: Virgin Media 70, 150 & 200 Mb Upgrades
 

Well, you have to look at the full picture.

VM Ireland TV package is weaker, and to get the likes of BT Sport to match the XL Package, you're looking at €115 or £85 which is not competitive with Big Kahuna (And new customers get 12 months cheaper, rather than 4 there).

On a personal note, my package, which is based on an old special offer, is £25 more expensive on VM Ireland WITH their special discount. Yes, the higher speed is nice, but frankly I don't need it! There is just as much competition in the UK as Ireland so I don't really see your point there?

Re: Virgin Media 70, 150 & 200 Mb Upgrades
 

The big factor for me in terms of prices is that Line rental absolutely ruins in. I'm hoping that with the new regulations about not displaying line rental price, combined with the VoIP offering, Virgin will drop the necessity of line rental just to get the best deal.

I'd rather the price of broadband increased a little bit but meant dropping line rental entirely. Then prices would be overall cheaper and a bit in line with my (literal) Irish cousins.

Re: Virgin Media 70, 150 & 200 Mb Upgrades
 

Well, another factor is the exchange rate.

Only a few years ago there was almost parity between the £ and €. I don't think anyone here would've been calling a package price of £115 a month for a Big Kahuna package or even £60 a month just for broadband a decent price!

That said, I agree that Line Rental in this day and age is becoming a bit of a farce. I have unlimited calls on my mobile and have 0 interest in my Landline yet there it stays. The sooner VOIP can work, dropping the need for the separate line, the better.

Re: Virgin Media 70, 150 & 200 Mb Upgrades
 

Bear in mind that in a power cut or similar situation VOIP as likely won't work and if the mobile network is also down only the battery backed up conventional phone network would be the only way of contacting the emergency services

Re: Virgin Media 70, 150 & 200 Mb Upgrades
 

If I'm honest, if BOTH of those happened at once, I think dialling 999 would be the least of my worries.

An area wide power cut which knocks out the local mast would also likely knock out the local exchanges too, rendering a landline useless too would it not? Anyway, considering this is a hypothetical that hasn't happened to my knowledge in my area in living memory, I think I can live with that.

Re: Virgin Media 70, 150 & 200 Mb Upgrades
 

Any reason why the faster speeds always seem to launch in Ireland first?

Someone mentioned the network being tiny in Ireland. Probably is, but I've read many times that a much higher percentage of the country is cabled, compared to the UK

Re: Virgin Media 70, 150 & 200 Mb Upgrades
 

Telephone exchanges have always had stand by battery power (48V) in the event of a power outage.

Re: Virgin Media 70, 150 & 200 Mb Upgrades
 

Fair enough.

Re: Virgin Media 70, 150 & 200 Mb Upgrades
 

Only four cities are cabled. http://www.libertyglobal.com/oo-ireland.html
Perhaps you'd read about their MMDS coverage, which provides TV to rural areas?

Also, broadband is only available to 88% of cable homes passed.

Re: Virgin Media 70, 150 & 200 Mb Upgrades
 

Or if your mobile signal is so poor you use a femto cell to route the mobile calls over your BB, then in a power cut you need that land line to call the power company to report the cut as well as 999 calls.

Re: Virgin Media 70, 150 & 200 Mb Upgrades
 

God I hate this alarmist dribble being repeated over and over.

Mobile masts have battery backups and there are more of them.

Not to mention, chance of a power cut: 0.05%

Chance of needing to dial 999: 0.0001%

Chance of both happening at the same time: 0.05% x 0.0001% = NaN.

---------- Post added at 12:27 ---------- Previous post was at 12:24 ----------

Then the 1% of people who have no mobile coverage can keep their landlines. The remaining 99% however, can make their own choices.

Re: Virgin Media 70, 150 & 200 Mb Upgrades
 

That is the case for me, however you may like to know that VoIP services being used to replace landlines require battery backup across all mains-powered components to permit such calls for a time.

You guys will be getting quite familiar with such things as you continue your FTTP deployment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKxR...hannel=Verizon

---------- Post added at 13:08 ---------- Previous post was at 13:03 ----------

When Liberty Global bought the cable network from ntl they rebuilt it as most of it couldn't handle 2-way services and most of the bits that could it would be generous to say weren't up to the task for the longer term.

Virgin Media Ireland compete with Eircom and the Vodafone/ESB FTTP joint venture. They have to be a bit more aggressive to keep up.

Re: Virgin Media 70, 150 & 200 Mb Upgrades
 

Oh. I thought they relaxed the requirements for BBUs on FTTP CPEs.

Are VM planning on running backup power to all active coaxial network components too? Guess they have to, for BBUs in CPEs to be of any use.