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Ashford may be poised to lose its high-speed connection to Brussels and Paris, but all Virgin Media customers in the area can get the 50Mb/sec service for £47 a month. The trial will run from 1 October until the end of December.

Folkestone is also currently running a free trial, but from the beginning of October trialists will be charged an as yet unspecified subscription, expected to be in line with the Ashford charge. Dover's trial should begin at the same time, but the date has not been confirmed.

More information is available as follows: Ashford; Folkestone;

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and Dover.

Virgin is using the latest version of DOCSIS (Data Over Cable Service Interface Specifications), the protocol that enables cable companies to send data signals over the same wires they use to deliver television signals.

DOCSIS 3.0 increases transmissions speeds both upstream and downstream. This means Virgin can offer upload speeds as high as 1.5Mb/sec in addition to 50Mb/sec for incoming data.

Meanwhile BT is beginning implementation of its 21st Century Network (21CN) which will, at best, provides speeds up to 22Mb/sec. The company has rejected calls to improve on this with the costly installation of optical fibres. But yesterday the minister of state for competitiveness, Stephen Timms, said that the government is considering funding fibre-to-the-home to ensure the UK remains competitive.

"Other countries are starting to invest in new, fibre-based infrastructure, delivering considerably higher bandwidth than is available in the UK today," he said.