Virgin launches Big Red VPN

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Virgin Media Business has launched a fresh set of VPN options, designed to ensure IT departments don't waste time and money on costly upgrades.

The company promised to offer "unconstrained bandwidth" across either of its two major VPN products – the Ethernet VPN or IPVPN, in three different packages.

Businesses can invest in 10Mbps, 100Mbps or 1Gbps VPNs for a "single, flat price." Virgin was unable to go into what those prices would be as it would be different for separate use cases.

Alison Adams, head of VPN products at Virgin Media Business, told IT Pro she thought businesses who invested in the Big Red VPN offering would be sorted for bandwidth requirements for at least two years.

This would free up time for CIOs to innovate rather than spend time and budget on network maintenance, Adams said.

"The flat rate makes budgeting easier," she said. "We've looked at how we can set customers free.

"We can guarantee these speeds… giving CIOs the bandwidth so they can innovate."

She revealed the SLAs for the Big Red VPN will be the same as for Virgin's current Ethernet VPN or IPVPN offerings.

Virgin said it was one of two providers which was capable of offering such a service in the UK, thanks to its fibre network. BT was the other provider, but will it make a similar play?

"It would be great if they were to follow us as it is a great proposition. It removes some of those barriers customers are facing," Adams added.

Virgin Media Business research found 37 per cent of UK CIOs upgrade their VPNs or WANs once a year. On average, an upgrade costs £30,000.

Almost half of CIOs surveyed said they would find IT innovation and budget management simpler if they were relieved of anxieties over WAN or network upgrades.

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