Virgin launches 50Mb/sec broadband

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 15 Dec 2008 at 10:26

Virgin Media has officially launched its 50Mb/sec broadband service.

The service offers the fastest headline speed of any consumer broadband service in the country, surpassing the up to 24Mb/sec available on domestic ADSL2+ services.

The increased speed comes courtesy of Virgin's new DOCSIS 3 network, which the company claims has the potential to reach speeds of up to 200Mb/sec.

In the meantime, those currently on 10Mb/sec or 20Mb/sec services will be migrated to the 50Mb/sec network, creating more space on the existing DOCSIS 1 network for lower-speed customers.

DOCSIS 3 will cover 40% of Virgin's cable network by the end of the year, with the rest of the network upgraded by next summer.

The 50Mb/sec service will cost £51 per month as a standalone service, although cheaper bundle deals are on offer.

Until recently, Virgin had a good reputation for achieving actual throughput that largely matched its headline speed claims.

However, research conducted by Sam Knows Broadband revealed that the company's 20Mb/sec lines often fail to deliver anywhere near the headline speeds during peak periods, falling to an average of 14Mb/sec.

The cable company has been trialling the 50Mb/sec lines for a number of months, and was originally due to launch the service back in September.