Good gig
Virgin Media has announced the trial of cable broadband offering download speeds of ‘up to 1.5Gb' (which we assume to mean Gbps) and upload speeds of 150Mb.
The location for the trial was carefully chosen as the state-sponsored ‘TechHub' situated in the Old Street area of central London. The moniker ‘silicon' was inevitable given the tech-specific nature of the initiative, but there's something painfully British about the area's full nickname of ‘silicon roundabout'.
The competitive environment Virgin Media finds itself in with regard to broadband is given extra spice by the apparent coziness between its biggest rival - former state monopoly BT - and the government. BT regularly lobbies for tax-payer cash in order to improve and expand its network, while Virgin has to rely on the fickle market for revenue.
So Virgin will no doubt be delighted to have got a pat on the head from comms minister Ed Vaizey about the trial. "It is fantastic to see the fastest internet speeds in the world over cable being trialled here in the UK," said Vaizey. "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 of 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."
The 1.5Gb broadband uses the same infrastructure as the 100Mb service already being rolled out, but there was no mention of when we might be looking at these kinds of speeds.