Virgin Media Business unveils three-tier VPN service

Virgin Media Business has unveiled a new service aimed at meeting the ever-increasing capacity requirements of businesses running virtual private networks (VPNs).

Big Red VPN offers access to three bandwidth levels of 10Mbit/s, 100Mbit/s or 1Gbit/s for a one-off fee, allowing companies to have more than enough bandwidth for their requirements.

Alison Adams, head of VPN and security at Virgin Media Business, told V3 that the three tiers allow firms to access the service that best suits their needs and reduce the need for continual network upgrades.

"In the past many businesses have had to tweak and upgrade their services almost as soon as they're launched and this can be very expensive. Research we commissioned found it could be as much as £30,000 per upgrade," she said.

"Therefore the ability to select a level of service far above their needs should ensure more than enough capacity for businesses for two or even three years, even as data on the network rapidly increases."

Adams explained that, for example, a company requiring 50Mbit/s of capacity would be able to use the 100Mbit/s service, rather than upgrading from 50Mbit/s to 60Mbit/s to 70Mbit/s as they had in the past.

Virgin Media Business will contact existing VPN customers to discuss the possibility of upgrading to the new service, while new customers can sign up from Tuesday. No pricing was publicly announced.

Big Red VPN follows on from Big Red Internet launched in 2010 which offers 100Mbit/s or 1Gbit/s upload and download speeds for a one-off annual fee on a three-year contract, as Virgin looks to rival BT in the corporate telecoms market.