By Claire Bates
Last updated at 4:54 PM on 20th April 2011
Telecoms and cable giant Virgin Media today said it will test the world's fastest broadband as demand grows for lightning-quick internet connections.
The company said it planned to trial speeds of up to 1.5 gigabytes per second - more than 10 times faster than its current fastest service of 100 megabytes per second and 240 times quicker than the UK average.
Super quick: Watching videos and using Skype to chat over the internet relies on fast broadband speeds
It would mean that customers could download a high-quality movie or video game in 55 seconds, rather than the three hours and 40 minutes it would take with the current UK average speed of 6.2mb.
Trials of the super-fast internet connections will will begin this month at four companies near Old Street, in London, dubbed the 'Silicon Roundabout', but the service will eventually be used in homes as well as offices.
Virgin Media said they were responding to customers who were demanding ever higher connectivity, with 39 per cent of new subscribers ordering speeds of 20 megabytes a second or higher, compared to 15 per cent a year ago.
More than 860,000 customers now subscribe to tiers of 20mb or above and more than 150,000 customers are on the 50mb tier, more than twice as many as a year ago.
The company said one of the greatest advantages of the 1.5gb service is not the speed, but the increased number of users who will be able to use the network simultaneously without interruption.
A study by Ofcom last month revealed average internet download speeds fell short of the headline figure
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.'
Virgin Media said it had invested 13 billion in providing cable-connected homes with access to fibre-optic networks, which carry the data as light signals along glass fibres.
Its main rival BT is rolling out its own super-fast broadband and recently launched a pilot scheme in Cornwall, where optical fibre cable has been installed. It offers download speeds of up to 40mb per second.
However, last month a large-scale Ofcom speed test found average broadband download speeds were still less than half of advertised headline speeds. This was particularly true of broadband delivered via a standard phone line using copper wires, known as ADSL broadband.
The internet signal slows the further it must travel along the wires from a telephone exchange. Cities tend to have faster broadband speeds as there are more exchanges. However, there is minimal speed deterioration with fibre optic wires.
Silicon roundabout: Virgin plan to test their 1.5Gb broadband in Old Street, London
Internet speeds may reduce if more than one person per household is using a broadband connection using a WiFi hub, or if a user tries to do multiple online tasks at once.
They can also slow down during busy times as more users are trying to use the same local exchange. Many ISPs cap the maximum number of users at 50 per exchange.
Other providers use 'traffic management' and may give users on more expensive packages priority at peak times.
Ofcom Chief Executive, Ed Richards, said of the figures: 'It is encouraging that new technologies are being rolled out across the UK and faster speeds are being achieved.
'However, the research shows that ISPs need to do more to ensure they are giving customers clear and accurate information about the services they provide and the factors that may affect the actual speeds customers will receive.'
Virgin have had an Epic Fail with the supherhub (superdud). check out their support forums.
- Lea, norfolk, 20/4/2011 18:31
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