200Mb for lucky few in Virgin Media trial

Virgin Media has announced that it intends to pilot fixed-line broadband connections with speeds of up to 200Mb to a select group of users, following succesful trials in its labs.

The trial will connect 100 homes in Ashford, Kent with super-fast 200Mb broadband in a pilot scheme which will last for six months. If a 200Mb connection is really possible outside of laboratory conditions, a handful of lucky users in Kent will have what is believed to be the fastest internet connections in the world, four times faster than anything else currently available in the UK, and significantly higher even than the technologically advanced Japanese markets, where speeds are around 160Mb.

However, to some extent the extra speed is entirely redundant, certainly in terms of broadband access. Most users' computers will not have the capacity to cope with such accelerated data speeds; and many websites only have 100Mb connections, meaning that information cannot be served at anything close to the maximum possible rate.

Nonetheless, Virgin Media is satisfied that the trial will be worthwhile, in particular in terms of testing high definition television services. The company's chief executive Neil Berkett said: "We're at the forefront of innovation and understanding when it comes to ultrafast broadband services and the 200Mb pilot will give us further insight into how true 'wideband' services might be used by consumers."

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