Virgin Media is to begin a roll-out of a 100Mb broadband service by the end of this year.

This, it said, will be the fastest available commercial product in the UK and will use the company’s own fibre optic cable network.

“There is nothing we can’t do with our fibre optic cable network,” said Virgin Media chief executive Neil Berkett.

“The launch of Virgin Media's 100Mb service will be a historic moment and will mean the UK will be comparable to other leading broadband nations," Mr Berkett said.

The 100Mb service will allow users to download a music album in as little as five seconds (instead of 1 minute and 15 seconds), an hour long TV show in 31 seconds (instead of 7minutes and 18 seconds) and an HD movie in 7 minutes 25 seconds (instead of one hour and 44 minutes.

Virgin Media claimed this is “significantly faster” than the times offered by the fastest speeds available from competitors, which are featured in brackets.

The company is also extending its trial of 200Mb broadband to Coventry where it will look to recruit hundreds of customers to test the internet with this supercharged speed.

The 200Mb pilot, which began in May 2009 in Kent, has been focusing on future technologies and applications, such as home teleconferencing and downloading HD programmes on-demand, which are likely to require fast speeds.

Virgin Media has 4.1 million broadband customers, with most on cable broadband, and currently offers 10Mb, 20Mb and 50Mb services.