British broadband provider Virgin Media has reported successfully achieving broadband downlink speeds of 2.2Gbps to premises in Thatcham, Berkshire as part of a real-world trial. In a press release regarding the development, the operator said that the multi-gigabit speeds had been delivered via existing cable network using DOCSIS 3.1 technology. Virgin Media said it carried out a proof-of-concept trial to showcase the faster speeds which can be delivered via its existing network, without the need for additional infrastructure or civil engineering works, such as laying new fibre cables. With the trial also recording average upload speeds of 214Mbps, Virgin Media said the speeds had been independently verified by Ofcom’s technical partner, SamKnows, which measures broadband performance.
Alongside revealing the results of the trial, Virgin Media reiterated that it has now rolled out gigabit download speeds – which it offers under the ‘Gig1’ banner – to seven areas, or 3.7 million premises, across the UK. Looking ahead, it expects more than 15 million premises to have access to gigabit speeds on its network by the end of 2021.