Virgin Media will replace its 20Mbps broadband with a 30Mbps service from 1 February for new customers, with existing customers given the option of staying on their old tier or paying a £30 one-off fee to upgrade.
Although existing 20Mbps customers will not have to pay any additional monthly costs to get the extra 10mbps, they will have to pay a one off fee of £30 to cover "activation and exchange of their old modem and router for Virgin Media's state-of-the-art 'SuperHub'."
Jon James, executive director of broadband at Virgin Media, said: "As consumers continually demand more and more from their broadband, the unique power of our next-generation network means that we're able to turn up the dial to meet their needs.
"With so many devices connecting to the internet at home these days, our new 30Mb service will give Virgin Media families that extra boost needed to make everything run smoothly, with speeds that don't slow down depending on where you live."
To Infinity, and beyond!
The new service comes in at £18.50, as long as you also sign up for a Virgin Media home phone which brings the price up to £30.74.
"The new service offers unlimited downloads and with speeds cranked up to 30Mb, is expected to give customers faster average speeds than BT Infinity whether it's catching up on the latest TV shows, or downloading games and music," adds Virgin Media.
"With the new 30Mb service Virgin Media customers can enjoy a consistently faster, unlimited service, for significantly less than BT Infinity products."
The service also offers up to 3Mbps upload speeds – although this is currently being rolled out and is not available for all.
