Virgin Media launches faster Essential Broadband plan for people on Universal Credit

If you live in the UK and are part of a household facing financial difficulties but still want faster internet, you might want to check Virgin Media's latest offering.

As the carrier recently announced, it has introduced a new broadband plan called Essential Broadband Plus, designed to give people on Universal Credit a faster internet connection at home. Customers on the new subscription tier will have average download speeds of 54Mbps and upload speeds of 5Mbps. And all this comes for £20 a month on a 30-day rolling contract, without any setup fee. Furthermore, the new tier is available for new and existing Virgin Media customers.

In comparison, the regular Essential Broadband tariff offers average download and upload speeds of 15Mbps and 2Mbps, respectively. Initially, its price was £15, but the plan is now available for just £12.50 per month, which, according to Virgin Media, makes it "one of the cheapest packages in the market." It also comes with a 30-day rolling contract and no setup fees.

In its announcement, the carrier also stated that, for a one-time payment of £20, customers on the Essential Broadband Plus plan can also get Virgin Media's Stream service. The normal charge is £35, so this means that those who decide to take up that offer will save £15, which is around 42% off the original price.

In case you are not familiar with Stream, this is a service that combines live TV, on-demand apps, popular streaming subscriptions, and must-watch movies all into one place. Stream customers also get 10% credit back on their added subscriptions via their Virgin Media bill.

Virgin Media's latest offering sounds interesting, but if you want to save money on a new phone as well, you should definitely check out our top O2 and Virgin Media phone deals. And if you are rocking with another UK carrier, you can check out our best Vodafone phone deals, best Three phone deals, and best EE phone deals.