SMEs Offered Three New Virgin Broadband Plans

Virgin Media has announced the launch of new broadband packages aimed at SMEs, from startups to more expansive, mature businesses.

The company notes that it's launching the new packages off the back of some research, in which a quarter of SME founders said that one of the biggest challenges in starting up a business was understanding what digital technology they needed.

Hence Virgin Media is deploying three offerings to make it easy for companies to pick out the right broadband pipe and package for them, with the Red Value, Red Speed and Red Performance plans aimed at small "digitally aware" firms, bigger "digitally enabled" companies, and finally "digital dependent" SMEs respectively.

The base level Red Value offering is aimed at businesses just getting going, and it's a 50MB line. There's a 152MB connection with the Red Speed plan, and both of these have unlimited usage and a £50 installation fee.

Red Performance is a more involved affair, with a 30MB to 100MB connection via Managed Internet Access, boasting identical upload and download speeds and capacity, and a six-hour Service Level Agreement. Installation is free in this case.

All the above plans come with the first two months free, to help you get started with minimal expense, and come with online support via The Big Digital Skills Hub (a free-for-all learning hub launched a few weeks back).

Mike Smith, Director, SMB at Virgin Media Business, commented: "Small and medium-sized firms should be the fuel of our economy powered by simple, flexible technology, but we feel that industry and the Government need to look at ways it can provide more support and direct assistance to this group which is UK plc's driving force."

"Today we are launching new packages for SMEs that are simple, clear and provide much needed flexibility as businesses grow. Not only that, we can now offer one of the fastest available broadband packages for businesses with Red Speed. With simpler products, better skills and backing from the top, the UK's businesses will grow faster and that can only be good for the whole economy."

Virgin Media is also providing free taxi rides to entrepreneurs across London, Manchester, Birmingham and Sheffield, from today through to Friday in its "SMEcab" service – all part of its drive to give SMEs a "lift" (ho-ho), so to speak. The taxis are apparently stocked with tech and tools to enable passengers to polish up their digital skills, and plug the new Red business broadband offerings, doubtless.