In the highly competitive broadband market, negative publicity is quite common, as each company strives to outdo others, criticising the supposedly attractive deals of competitors.

BT’s latest “three months free” plan too intended to be one of the best deals available in the market. The package, which comes with download speeds of up to 8 MB and download limit of 10GB as part of an 18-month contract, was in fact attracting potential customers. To deliver a blow to the popularity of the deal, Virgin Media has come out with a damning analysis of its shortcomings.

Virgin points out that 8MB download speeds are only for the lucky few who happen to live near the telephone exchange. If you live farther away, the speeds get much lower. It also mentions the plight of the BT Option 1 customers for whom it is impossible to watch BBC iPlayer HD programmes on their computers, thanks to the problem of blocking of streaming speeds.

As an alternative to the BT deal, Virgin Media claims to have a flawless and affordable package at £25 per month with a 1-year contract, and a guaranteed speed of 10MB irrespective of the user’s location. The package also offers unlimited download, with restrictions, of course, as per fair usage policies. With unlimited calls to landlines for calls beginning with 01, 02, or 03 for weekends, according to Virgin Media its service is a cut above others. Click here to compare broadband with an unbiased view.