Virgin Media trials 40Gbit/s connections in the UK
 

Virgin Media is to carry out trials on its networks

BT rival Virgin Media has trialled a 40Gbit/s live network connection over a 217 mile span of its existing 10Gbit/s backbone from Manchester to London.

Virgin Media said that the trial would be used to demonstrate whether it would be economically viable to both optimise existing optical network assets and scale the network upwards so that it offers high data transmission rates.

The firm's technical architecture director Daniel Hennessy said that the aim of the trial was to continue to meet the growing capacity needs of the high-speed services needed to service Virgin Media customers, "Our strategic suppliers have demonstrated very clearly how existing network assets can be scaled to meet the growth in demand associated with evolving customer behaviour.”

The trial used Nortel Networks’ 40G Adaptive Optical Engine dense wavelength division multiplex (DWDM) transponder cards, terminating on Juniper Networks T-series routers which had 40Gbit/s interfaces.


http://www.itweek.co.uk/itweek/news/...-trials-40gbit

Re: Virgin Media trials 40Gbit/s connections in the UK
 

page not found

Re: Virgin Media trials 40Gbit/s connections in the UK
 

Btw this is capped at 2GB before it slows to 1mb.

Re: Virgin Media trials 40Gbit/s connections in the UK
 

looks like a carrot on a stick presentation for the shareholders to me.

Re: Virgin Media trials 40Gbit/s connections in the UK
 

"More importantly, perhaps, is the fact that it wasn't purely a technology demonstration, but represented a customer evaluating the equipment to see if it makes economic sense to deploy it in the network."

http://fibresystems.org/cws/article/news/34108



"The live field trial, conducted in late April 2008, carried 40G traffic generated by Virgin Media and delivered over its long-haul optical network between Manchester and London. The trial effectively positions Virgin Media as the first UK operator to offer 40G wavelength services between UK locations and, following the success of the pilot, the company is now looking to deploy."

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/...re/0393959.htm

Re: Virgin Media trials 40Gbit/s connections in the UK
 

Did you lift that from here or is it you in another Guise.:LOL:

The link below posted at 1130 this morning.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s...1#post23534081

Re: Virgin Media trials 40Gbit/s connections in the UK
 

Nah, i dont visit digitalspy, its full of idiots.

Re: Virgin Media trials 40Gbit/s connections in the UK
 

I have noticed that they should all wear :dunce: but I could not resist the above.:handshake::LOL:

Re: Virgin Media trials 40Gbit/s connections in the UK
 

A minor point but the press release has an error in it. The distance was actually 560 km (350m) not 350km (218m) I guess someone quoted miles to the press office and they thought it was km (or something).

Re: Virgin Media trials 40Gbit/s connections in the UK
 

When did they move Manchester further North!! as it definitely was not 350 miles from London the last time I looked on a map.?

Re: Virgin Media trials 40Gbit/s connections in the UK
 

Forgive the technically challenged part of me but IF this is rolled out, what does this mean to the home customer as opposed to the customer that is Virgin Media?

What sort of speed increases will this make available? Upload and download I assume?

Re: Virgin Media trials 40Gbit/s connections in the UK
 

They should get the 4 meg upgrade complete before they start any other speed trials!:(

Re: Virgin Media trials 40Gbit/s connections in the UK
 

Think of it this way, all they are doing is testing and designing for the future the same as for example a Car Manufacturer like Fords, if the was no planning and testing we would be lucky if we had advanced as far as a Model T ford not these Focus's and Mondeo's we have.

No testing no Future, the Upgrades are ongoing till at least October, plus it is a free upgrade.

Re: Virgin Media trials 40Gbit/s connections in the UK
 

Well, I lol'd!

Re: Virgin Media trials 40Gbit/s connections in the UK
 

The distance between London and Manchester in optical fibre kms is way more than the straight line distance. VM Core Network optical fibre does not follow motorway routes but generally goes via A roads but in places it also routes round residential areas. Thus the 'fibre distance' between cities bears no relationship to straight line or fastest driven route distance. If you look at the route on a map it's a bit like having a really crap sat nav!

Re: Virgin Media trials 40Gbit/s connections in the UK
 

Or according to some of the posts on this forum Virginmedia is like your Satnav.

Thanks for the response.

Re: Virgin Media trials 40Gbit/s connections in the UK
 

i find this 40 Gig test rather odd TD given the really old news now (the old April 2nd 2007 )on the original 50Mbit thread, now if it were the new 100Gig kit being tested that might seem far more interesting.

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/10...l#post34476302

""
Quote:
SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Juniper Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:JNPR) today announced that the Virgin Media Group, the UK’s largest cable operator, has deployed Juniper Networks T-series core routers, including the multi-terabit TX Matrix, to upgrade its IP backbone network.

As a central component of the Virgin Media next-generation IP network architecture, the T-series will enable the delivery of bandwidth-intensive multiplay services such as IPTV, video on demand and voice over IP.

The agile and open core network will also facilitate and simplify the integration of many new customers and network assets, which are joining Virgin Media as the result of the merger between ntl, Virgin Mobile and Telewest Global in 2006.

More at:
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/...86&newsLang=en
"
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/s...86&newsLang=en
"
...
Virgin Media provides high quality digital TV, Internet and telephone services to nearly 3 million subscribers throughout the UK.

In addition to supporting all of its own broadband customers, Virgin Media also leases capacity on its core network to several of the UK’s leading ISPs, so the Juniper Networks T-series will be supporting an expansive network capable of delivering Internet-based communications services to more than 12 million UK homes (more than 50 percent of the total households in the UK), and 85 percent of UK businesses.

“Service reliability, throughput speed and scalable capacity are the main criteria that will enable a successful roll-out of next-generation network services in both the immediate future and in the long term,” said Rob Sim, Head of Network Architecture at Virgin Media. “We wanted to put support for 40G in place now, and both the T640 and TX Matrix platforms from Juniper enable us to support 40G as soon as needed.

Also, as the capacity demands on our network grow, we can easily upgrade the T640 to TX Matrix as required, whilst maintaining both operational and service consistency without an operating system change.”
...
"

---------- Post added at 00:52 ---------- Previous post was at 00:40 ----------

perhaps Rob Sim Head of Network Architecture at Virgin Media was more forward thinking than the current? Daniel Hennessy of VM technical architecture director ?

Re: Virgin Media trials 40Gbit/s connections in the UK
 

From what i recall they didnt want to test the 100gig kits as it was WAY out of their price range, VM are working with a very small budget for upgrades!

It has made me wonder how the network is going to handle the load of 50mbit/20mbit on pre-docsis3 tier with such a crappy infrastructure.

But i guess that's why they are giving crap upload ratios yet again.

I can honestly see VM just dying off over the next few years if they dont play it right.

Personally i think this 50mbit situation has only been brought up to look good to shareholders and possible buyers.

Re: Virgin Media trials 40Gbit/s connections in the UK
 

Anyone?

Re: Virgin Media trials 40Gbit/s connections in the UK
 

It means the network will be able to carry more load (thats if im understanding it correctly) and not the consumer getting 40 Gb

Re: Virgin Media trials 40Gbit/s connections in the UK
 

Yep bang on :tu:

Re: Virgin Media trials 40Gbit/s connections in the UK
 

10gbit seems very small backhaul for an isp of VMs size it must be close to been saturated at the moment.

Re: Virgin Media trials 40Gbit/s connections in the UK
 

I am pretty sure they using more than 1x10 gig backhaul route :)

Re: Virgin Media trials 40Gbit/s connections in the UK
 

Bigger backhauls have to be a good thing. I dread to think what the mobile providers currently have from their base stations, but it must be pretty poor in comparison!

Re: Virgin Media trials 40Gbit/s connections in the UK
 

I wonder when they'll be starting with 50mb. Surely it can't be that far away if they plan to start before Chrismtas (obviously they have the change freeze).