Virgin Media, the UK's leading broadband provider, is successfully delivering internet speeds up to 240 times faster than the national average to triallists in London. Using Virgin Media's unique cable network, broadband speeds of up to 1.5Gb are being enjoyed around Old Street, an area known as ‘Silicon Roundabout', including by members at TechHub, a community and workspace for technology entrepreneurs.
The 1.5Gb download and 150Mb upload trial uses the same infrastructure and technology as Virgin Media uses to provide residential customers with speeds of up to 100Mb, already being rolled out to over half of all UK homes. The 1.5Gb trial is the world's fastest cable connection and more than 240 times faster than the national average broadband1.
Jon James, executive director of broadband at Virgin Media, said: "As people are simultaneously connecting more gadgets to the internet and doing more online than ever before, we wanted to explore what our unique fibre optic network is capable of. At speeds of up to 1.5Gb, Virgin Media is delivering some of the fastest broadband in the world and, thanks to our ongoing investment, we're able to anticipate and lead the way in meeting growing demand for bandwidth as future services and applications come online."
Virgin Media is celebrating the success of its 1.5Gb trial with an event at TechHub today. TechHub members will be showcasing their products, exploring how to make the most of technology, now and in the future, and guests will be given the chance to try out the world's fastest cable connection for themselves.
Communications Minister Ed Vaizey attended the event and said: "It is fantastic to see the fastest internet speeds in the world over cable being trialled here in the UK.
"This exciting development will help attract new companies and entrepreneurs to the area, bringing new jobs and growth to this part of the capital.
"Last year the Prime Minister set out our ambition for London's East End to become a world-leading technology city to rival Silicon Valley. Developments like Virgin Media's will help make this ambition a reality."
Elizabeth Varley, co-founder and CEO at TechHub, said: "TechHub members are having great fun with the super speeds and are looking forward to trying out new ideas and applications. Superfast broadband is critical to continued innovation across the UK and Virgin Media's 1.5Gb trial is a great opportunity to explore the future potential."
TechHub members are tech entrepreneurs and startup teams, producing interactive applications, software and other products exploring innovative uses of content and technology to develop new businesses and ideas.
Other businesses taking part in Virgin Media's 1.5Gb trial include BespokeBanter.com, an online media outfit, and soproductions.tv, a video production company.
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 state-of-the-art fibre optic network by a high-grade coaxial line.
As the pace of technological change increases, Virgin Media's future-proofed infrastructure means consumers will be best placed to access future interactive entertainment and public services, such as remote healthcare and online education, as they're developed.
The DOCSIS2 technology used throughout Virgin Media's network provides a future-proofed platform with theoretically near infinite capacity. 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).
Virgin Media is the first provider of all four broadband, TV, mobile phone and home phone services in the UK.
The company’s cable network – the result of multi-billion pound private investment – delivers ultrafast broadband to over half of all UK homes, with speeds of up to 120Mb, as well as market leading connectivity to thousands of public and private sector organisations across the country.
Virgin Media has developed the most advanced interactive television service, bringing together broadcast TV, thousands of hours of on demand programming and the best of the web in a single set-top box powered by TiVo. The company was the first to offer HD TV and 3D on demand to millions of British households.
The world’s first virtual mobile network was launched by Virgin Media and it is also one of the largest fixed-line home phone providers in the country.
Virgin Media is a part of Liberty Global plc, the world’s largest broadband communications group. Together Virgin Media and Liberty Global serve 25 million customers across 14 countries, helping connect people to the digital world and enabling them to discover and experience its endless possibilities.