Fibrestream boss welcomes Virgin Media 100Mbps broadband plans

Fibresteam's chief executive has welcomed Virgin Media's plans to extend its "ultra-fast" 100Mbps fibre optic broadband product to more of the UK.

Writing on the internet service provider's official blog, Guy Jarvis revealed Dale Barnes from the cable company spoke to attendees of a meeting organised by culture minister Ed Vaizey with a view to discussing the sharing of infrastructure.

During the talks, Mr Barnes said Virgin Media is looking to bring the recently launched 100Mbps proposition to half the UK population by midway through 2012.

This represents a substantial increase on the number of households that are currently able to access the technology, which stands at just over 350,000.

Responding to the news, the Fibrestream boss commented: "[It is] great to see our wholesale partners for the Ashby [fibre-to-the-home] network catching up."

Although Virgin has claimed to offer the fastest residential broadband in the country, Mr Barnes pointed out its speeds are equalled by those available in Ashby.