Virgin Trials 1.5 Gbps Cable Broadband – As Companies Continue to Test DOCSIS 3.0 Capabilities

An article by DSLReports

Earlier this year we noted that Arris has been testing 800 Mbps cable modem service with South Korean broadband ISP SK Broadband. That came on the heels of previous tests by German cable operator Kabel Deutschland (KDG) that achieved cable broadband download speeds of up to 1Gbps using Cisco gear. Not to be outdone, Norwegian ISP Get also says they’re seeing speed bursts up to 1.4 Gbps using 32 bonded cable channels, and Cisco has also been pushing DOC 3 past the 1.5 Gbps downstream mark using three 16×4 channel modems. Not to be undone, UK cable operator Virgin now says they’re testing 1.5 Gbps down, 150 Mbps upstream cable trials:

Virgin Media is to begin testing internet speeds of up to 1.5Gb in east London. Using Virgin Media s unique cable network, the trials will begin this month in partnership with four companies in the vicinity of Old Street in London, dubbed the “Silicon Roundabout”. The 1.5Gb download and 150Mb upload service will use the same infrastructure and technology as Virgin Media currently uses to provide residential customers with the country s fastest home broadband. If successful, this will be the world s fastest cable connection and more than 240 times faster than the national average broadband1. Similar technology tests have already proven the capability of cable to deliver download speeds of 1Gb.

While such lofty tests are interesting in that they show the leg room of last mile coaxial, most users obviously don’t need those kinds of speeds just yet. Many are more interested in seeing cable operators master upstream channel bonding and boost upstream speeds, eliminating the sometimes silly and topheavy tiers seen at many operators (100 Mbps down, 1.5 Mbps up?) worldwide. Comcast says they should have bonded DOC 3 upstream deployment ready sometime this year.
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