Virgin Media to trial 1.5Gb broadband

Virgin Media has announced plans to begin testing internet speeds of up to 1.5Gb in east London - the world's fastest ever trial of cable broadband.

This month, the cable operator will begin the broadband pilot in partnership with four companies in the vicinity of Old Street, London, dubbed the UK's 'Silicon Roundabout'.

Using the same infrastructure as Virgin Media's commercial broadband network, the trial will deliver 1.5Gb download speeds, more than 240 times faster than the national average, along with 150Mbps upload speeds.

Each of the firms taking part in the trial is said to be involved in the creative industries, working with data-heavy video for online and mobile streaming, as well as interactive applications for the online broadcasting of live programmes and events.

"Demand for greater bandwidth is growing rapidly as more devices are able to connect to the internet and as more people go online simultaneously," said Jon James, executive director of broadband at Virgin Media.

"Our growing network provides a highly competitive alternative to the fastest fibre networks of the future and, with our ongoing investment plans, we can anticipate and meet demand as it develops over time, ensuring Virgin Media business and residential customers continue to enjoy world-class broadband."

The trial has been made possible by Virgin Media's £13 billion investment in network infrastructure; including the DOCSIS3 technology enabling "theoretically near-infinite capacity".

However, it is also part of an ongoing tussle with BT over the future of broadband provision, with both firms claiming to provide the answer to the UK's internet needs.

BT is currently readying a technical trial of one gigabit per second broadband in Kesgrave, Suffolk as a way to demonstrate the speeds achievable over its Fibre-to-the-Premise (FTTP) product.

Sam Orams, co-founder of BespokeBanter.com, one of the companies trialing Virgin Media's 1.5Gb broadband, said: "While the average home might not need these speeds quite yet, we certainly will.

"The internet is critical to what we do and intrinsically linked to our future growth, so it's exciting to be working with Virgin Media at the forefront of broadband innovation in the UK."

Virgin Media chief executive Neil Berkett added: "Our 1.5Gb broadband trial will achieve the fastest cable speeds in the world and, by pushing the frontiers of technology, it will help us to understand the kinds of services our customers may need in the future and the exciting possibilities of an increasingly converged world."