Virgin Media to trial world's fastest broadband in London

Virgin Media - giving us the heebie Gbs
Virgin Media - giving us the heebie Gbs

Virgin Media has announced that it will begin trials of what it is calling the 'world's fastest broadband', with the cable giant expecting to attain speeds of a whopping 1.5Gbps.

Although the company's 100Mbps service is currently the fastest widely available product on the market, Virgin Media is keen to look beyond mere megabits.

The trial, which start this month, are being conducted in partnership with four companies in the Old Street region being dubbed 'Silicon Roundabout'.

World's fastest

The asymmetric service brings download speeds of 1.5Gbps and upload speeds of 150Mbps – and if successful would be the world's fastest cable connection.

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

"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."

Virgin Media insists that its huge investment in fibre optic cabling means that it will remain at the forefront if superfast broadband in the UK despite BT's current focus on rolling out fibre.

The companies involved in the trial are apparently involved in video for online and mobile streaming, which justifies the need for such a ludicrously fast connection.

Patrick Goss

Patrick Goss is the ex-Editor in Chief of TechRadar. Patrick was a passionate and experienced journalist, and he has been lucky enough to work on some of the finest online properties on the planet, building audiences everywhere and establishing himself at the forefront of digital content.  After a long stint as the boss at TechRadar, Patrick has now moved on to a role with Apple, where he is the Managing Editor for the App Store in the UK.