Virgin plucks Broadband at Home from retail shelves

Virgin Mobile has confirmed it has stopped selling its Broadband at Home service via general retail stores.

In a bid to improve flagging levels of service, Virgin issued a statement saying it will only sell the product via direct channels, its own stores and its Web site and call centre from November 1.

The Broadband at Home service was previously available off the shelf in general retail stores such as Dick Smith Electronics.

Virgin Mobile spokesperson Amber Morris said the changes were a result of Virgin being committed to providing genuine value and wanting to guarantee the best possible service. “The service checker process has been changed significantly, even though the customer generally won’t see it any differently. There are an extra four of five steps that mean we are now completely confident of providing the best possible level of coverage and service, using details like the customers address and coverage area.”

In addition to the changes in sale, Virgin also confirmed they have removed their 750 kilobits per second speed cap, though this isn’t permanent as yet and is part of a “three or four week trial.”

Virgin stated it will consider the future of the speed cap “depending on the customer experience” during the trial period.

Virgin uses the Optus 3G network in Australia to provide its wireless broadband. The network been under increasing scrutiny of late. Poor coverage and mediocre speeds are just some of the many complaints directed at it in recent months.

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