Virgin Media announces pilot of 200Mbits/sec connections

Virgin Media has announced it is to trial 200Mbits/sec broadband access, which is set to break records as the fastest consumer Internet access in the UK.

The blisteringly quick 'wideband' data connections are to be tested by 100 hand-picked customers in Ashford, Kent.

This speed is only possible because of the new Docsis 3 standard, which Virgin previously rolled out to support its 50Mbits/sec service, currently the
fastest speed it offers.

A new feature in Docsis 3 is channel bonding, which allows multiple upstream and downstream data channels to be used together.
The 200Mbits/sec speeds are achieved by bonding four 50Mbits/sec connections into one.

Virgin Media admits not everyone's PC can make full use of the service, as a wired connection and a Gigabit Ethernet port is required to use the full speed.

During the six-month trial, Virgin will monitor use of the service to test demand for high-bandwidth consumption activities, such as viewing 1080p high definition television and 3DTV. A variety of different upload speeds will also be tested. The information will then be used to decide how to deploy theservice to the rest of Virgin's network, which wont happen for six to twelve months at least.