Airtime Fairness and Channel Optimisation will transform the home experience

 

New systems will be fully activated for all Virgin Media WiFi Hub owners from this Thursday, May 16th.

 

10.2 = The average number of devices currently using the Virgin Media Hub in customers’ homes

 

Virgin Media Ireland has unveiled ground breaking upgrades to their In-Home WiFi Hub that will add to their status as the nation's leading broadband provider, with the revolutionary technology activated in all customers’ WiFi hubs automatically by the end of this week.

 

The development will provide all Virgin customers with Ireland’s fastest widely available broadband speeds in more areas of their home.

 

Channel Optimisation is a game-changing addition to the Virgin Media modem that will automatically change WiFi channels. The system chooses channels with the least amount of interference ensuring the best connectivity and fastest service is obtained by all devices being used in the home.

 

Airtime Fairness is a second addition that will ensure equal allocation of airtime to connected devices an ensure they achieve their highest possible speeds.

 

"There’s a lot of noise and confusion around what comes next for broadband and WiFi and the focus up to this point has been around the race to improve speed of service, but we want to move away from that and focus on what consumers get from their service and their quality of connectivity for multiple devices," states Paul Farrell, Vice President of Commercial at Virgin Media Ireland.

 

"Currently, we have an average of a little over ten devices using a Virgin Media WiFi hub in a home at present. That number is expected to rise to as many as 50 devices in the years ahead and what we have at Virgin Media is a hub that is ready for that level of expansion.

 

"We have been certified* as having the best modem in the marketplace and now we’re looking to add functionality to that to ensure this debate moves beyond speed. 

 

"You can have a Ferrari, but if the road isn’t connected or you have no petrol in the tank, it won’t give you the great experience you expect from it and what we are doing at Virgin Media now is providing the full package."

 

Virgin Media Ireland are rolling out technological innovations that will enhance the experience for all customers, with the new additions to our modem that is already certified as the best in the Irish market taking the service to a new level.*

"This is the start of our smart WiFi journey," says Ruairi McGowan, Product Manager for Connectivity at Virgin Media Ireland. "This is chapter one and we are starting from a great base as we’re really confident in our hub, confident in our speed and convinced we have the best engineers to ensure the best possible in-home solution for our customers.

 

"What we’re focusing on now is the inner workings of the box and future proofing what is to come to ensure it can cope with anything our customers may throw at us in the coming years. 

 

"What we aim to do with this upgrade is ensure our customers will never need to look at ways to improve their WiFi connection or consider rebooting their modem, as it will all be done for them through our smart hub.

 

"We’re rolling these revolutionary innovations out to all our customers automatically and by the end of this week, every Virgin Media Ireland customer will have Channel Optimisation and Airtime Fairness active in their home."

 

ENDS

 

*Independently certified in comparative study of Virgin Media and competitors by analytics firm Cartesian.

 

Further Information:

 

Follow us on Twitter:  @VirginMediaIEPR

Anna Maria Barry, Virgin Media

M: (086) 227 2072

E: annamaria.barry@virginmedia.ie

 

Notes to editors: 

 

Channel Optimisation: ensures that Wi-Fi radios are automatically set to channels with the least amount of interference, allowing for the greatest maximum throughput on each radio. Without this smart feature: Wi-Fi radios remain static on a single channel setting.

 

Airtime Fairness: ensures an equal allocation of airtime to connected devices ensuring newer and faster devices can achieve their higher speeds

 

Virgin Media is already Ireland's most reliable broadband service, with statistics confirming our network was 99.9% reliable over the last 12 months, while we have also consistently top scorer on the Netflix ISP Leader board. We are also consistently top scorer on the Netflix ISP Leader board.

 

Virgin Media customers can expect more as we deliver the most innovative products and services in the industry.

 

Virgin Media customers are enjoying the best Customer Experience. Virgin Media has consistently had the absolute lowest level of complaints among all fixed line operators every quarter for over two years now compared to others (e.g., Eir, Sky, Vodafone).  (Source: ComReg Quarterly Reports)

 

Virgin Media’s multi-annual network expansion programme, Project Lightning is bringing Ireland’s fastest broadband and the best connected entertainment experience to more and more customers in towns and cities across the country, now covering 929,800 homes, where Virgin Media customers can enjoy broadband speeds of up to 500Mbps. This includes recent network investments in Athy, Arklow, Ballincollig, Dundalk, Dungarvan, Drogheda, Ennis, Enniscorthy, Gorey, Limerick, Portarlington, Tuam, Shannon, Wicklow and Wexford, among many other locations.