Virgin.net is still not accepting new broadband customers, almost a month after it said it would lift a moratorium on new sign-ups.

Late last year Virgin.net was plagued by a series of technical problems which led to a severe deterioration in its service. the ISP halted sign-ups for its ADSL service while it carried out remedial work. However, it was due to begin accepting new sign-ups from mid-December.

Now, though, punters trying to sign up to the service are faced with a short announcement advising them that the service will not be available until sometime "in the New Year".

The statement reads: "At present, due to heavy demand, we are unable to accept new Virgin.net Broadband customers. We will however be accepting registrations again in the New Year.

According to another announcement on the site, dated January 5, Virgin.net reports that "extra network capacity" has now been installed "ahead of schedule" which should "give all our customers a better service".

This, we're told, has led to "a significant improvement to the speed and performance of Virgin.net Broadband", it said.

Despite this, the ISP will not accept any new customers until "we are completely happy that its performance has returned to its previous high levels".

"At this stage we expect to re-open for new Virgin.net Broadband registrations in mid January," it said.

The ISP has also hired "88 additional Call Centre agents to handle your queries" but says it is still "dealing with a backlog of calls and emails".

Oh, and a number of punters continue to abuse the service, said the ISP.

No one from Virgin.net was available for comment at the time of writing. ®

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