Virgin Media launches Ireland's first 5Gb fibre broadband

If you have a need for speed then Virgin Media has definitely got you covered!

One of the country’s biggest broadband providers has launched Ireland's first 5Gb (5,000Mb) fibre broadband service.

Until now, the top speed available to most households in Ireland was 1Gb. Though some providers, including Virgin Media, offer up to 2Gb in selected areas.

So this new launch significantly ups the ante, delivering speeds that are far beyond what’s previously been available to Irish homes and businesses.

Benefits

Ireland’s first 5Gb fibre broadband service will provide significant benefits to both consumers and businesses throughout the country.

Our lives increasingly revolve around the internet. Whether it’s watching TV, listening to music, playing video games, working from home, or catching up with our favourite podcasts, we need good quality broadband to do it. 

The explosion in the popularity of smart devices and the "smart home", where everything from our TVs, our lighting and heating, cameras, and even our kitchen appliances, are connected to the internet, also demands faster speeds and better connectivity.  

This new service offers the capacity to handle all these demands with ease, giving even the most connected and data-hungry households the headroom they need now, and well into the future.

And for businesses, especially those relying on cloud services, video conferencing, or large data transfers, the jump in speed and reliability could be transformative — helping to boost productivity, flexibility, and competitiveness.

What will it cost?

Virgin is offering its new 5Gb service for an introductory price of €60 per month for the first 12 months, rising to €100 per month thereafter.

But if you're happy to commit to a longer contract, a two-year deal is available for €65 per month for 24 months, also rising to €100 per month afterwards. So if you don't think you'll switch provider after the first year, then this option offers much better value over the medium term. 

You can also add on a TV package for an extra €15 a month for the first 12 or 24 months depending on the contract you choose, rising to €34 extra thereafter.

There are currently no sign-up fees. And to encourage early adopters, Virgin is offering a €100 bill credit to anyone who signs up through bonkers.ie until 4th June. 

Virgin Media is responding to consumer trends, increasing data consumption and what our customers have told us in terms of their broadband services.

Paul Higgins, Virgin Media’s Vice President of Consumer

Do I need 5Gb broadband? 

This is where it’s worth pausing to assess your actual needs.

A 5Gb connection is incredibly fast. A connection this quick will allow you to download an entire movie in 4K picture quality in around 45 seconds, a big-budget "triple A" video game in around 2.5 minutes, and around 1,000 photos in just a few seconds. 

You’ll also enjoy ultra-clear video calls, lag-free gaming — even with multiple people playing at once — and be able to run a smart home with dozens of devices connected to your Wi-Fi.

That said, for most typical households, broadband speeds of 500Mb or 1Gb already deliver a very good experience. Even homes with several users who are all streaming, gaming, and working from home at once will find that 1Gb is usually sufficient for their needs.

If you're in a very large household with heavy, simultaneous usage across many devices, then 2Gb could be a smart upgrade. But beyond that, 5Gb is likely to be most beneficial to:

• Large, tech-savvy families with very high usage needs who have many devices connected at once 

• Remote workers dealing with large files and the need for frequent real-time collaboration

• Businesses operating from home

• Gamers and streamers who want a top-tier experience with zero lagging 

So in short, not everyone needs 5Gb speeds today, but the demand for higher bandwidth is growing, especially given the increased use of AI — and this service help puts early adopters ahead of the curve.

Important considerations

Before rushing to sign up to Virgin's new service, it’s important you check whether your equipment can handle these speeds. As there's no point paying for a service you can't actually get. 

Many older laptops and computers can only handle speeds of up to 1Gb, even if you're using a modern router. This is because the hardware in the devices simply can't process data this quickly.

And even if you connect via Ethernet you'll still be limited. Older laptops often have Gigabit Ethernet ports, which are capped at 1Gbps. To go beyond that, you’d need a 2.5Gb or 5Gb Ethernet adapter (e.g. via USB-C or Thunderbolt), and even then, only if your laptop’s USB port and processor can handle the throughput.

In general, if your laptop is very old (e.g. over eight years), you'll likely need to buy a new one to fully benefit from ultra-fast broadband.

Who can get the new service?

Virgin Media has significantly expanded its network in recent years and the company now provides broadband services to around 1.5 million premises across the country.

It offers services using its own infrastructure, which passes just over 1 million premises, and recently through partnerships with SIRO and National Broadband Ireland (NBI). 

For now though, the 5Gb service will only be available through Virgin's own network infrastructure. And even then not everyone can get it just yet. 

If you're wondering whether Virgin's network is available at your home, we're here to help! Simply type your address or eircode into our broadband comparison service and we'll tell you in seconds which speeds and services are available in your area.