Virgin launches 200Mb broadband pilot

Interesting stuff. What can you possibly do with a 200Mb broadband connection? HDTV and 3D Games and still you have some spare for p2p. Apparently, the limitation in this context are the routers, especially the wireless ones.

This is quite a paradigm shit and can disrupt the current media setup massively. With 200MB broadband you can really enjoy streamed HD, on demand HD content, interactive 3D gaming etc etc. Also, remote personal content depository becomes a no brainer. It’s a step closer to cloud computing. How will TV broadcaster react? Will they split their delivery/platform capabilities from the content production ones to make sure they are agile enough to grab the emerging opportunities? Will they adapt quickly enough to the emerging delivery framework? Media convergency is a step closer.

Virgin 200mb broadband looks cool

Virgin launches 200Mb broadband customer pilot scheme in Kent (Telegraph)

Virgin Media has started a customer pilot scheme of 50 to100 households in Ashford, Kent, to test a 200Mb broadband internet supply.

Neil Berkett, chief executive officer at Virgin Media, said: “The 200Mb pilot will give us further insight into how true ‘wideband’ services might be used by customers”. Photo: Martin Argles

This is four times faster than the 50Mb Virgin currently supplies homes with and is believed to be the fastest implementation of this type of technology in the world, running quicker than services offered in Japan and the US, which currently reach 160Mb and 101Mb respectively.

The company has been running laboratory trials for several weeks and has now moved into the public testing phase, starting in Ashford. The pilot is expected to last at least six to 12 months.

Super-fast broadband pilot scheme gets £100m boostA Virgin spokesperson would not disclose when the service would be available to the general public. They said: “It’s a pilot at this stage and we cannot commit to a date for a full commercial launch.”

Throughout the pilot, the company will be testing applications consumers may be using regularly in the future, such as streaming High Definition video and playing 3D computer games.

200 Mb is faster than most routers can deliver successfully so many of the issues Virgin expects to come across will be related to receiving hardware, rather than the speed of supply. Consumers will need to optimise their computers to gain the full benefits of higher speed……