Virgin Media Trials 1.5 Gbps Broadband

The UK’s Virgin Media will test Internet speeds of up to 1.5 Gbps in east London. The trials will begin this month in partnership with four companies in the vicinity of Old Street in London, dubbed the ‘Silicon Roundabout’.

The 1.5 Gbps download and 150 Mbps upload service will use the same infrastructure and technology as Virgin Media currently uses to provide residential customers with broadband.

Each of the companies taking part in the trial is involved in the creative industries, working extensively with video for online and mobile streaming, producing interactive applications for the Web and broadcasting services for live programs and events.

These superfast speeds are possible because of the £13 billion of private investment made by Virgin Media, which means that every cable home is connected to a fiber optic network by a high-grade coaxial line. The DOCSIS 3.0 technology used throughout Virgin Media’s network provides a future-proofed platform. Virgin Media is able to bond multiple downstream and upstream channels together to be used at the same time by a single subscriber to deliver faster speeds. DOCSIS 3.0, the current standard used throughout Virgin Media’s network, also incorporates support for Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6).