Virgin Media Trials 1.5Gb Broadband Speeds Powered by Cisco Cable Access Technology

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) has announced that it is working with Virgin Media to further enhance the company's network by deploying DOCSIS 3.0 technology to deliver high speed Internet services on the company's existing network infrastructure.

In a trial in East London, Virgin Media achieved ground-breaking broadband speeds of 1.5 Gigabytes (Gb) by using Cisco's (3G60) Broadband Processing Engine, a high-density, cost-effective line card for Cisco's flagship uBR10K Universal Broadband Router and Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS).

Highlights:

• An important component of Cisco's complete DOCSIS(R) 3.0 solution, the highly scalable 3G60 line card enables cable television operators to offer IP video services.
• Cisco's Cisco Universal Broadband Router together with the 3G60 line card supports the full set of DOCSIS 3.0 features at scale, including IPv6, and supports advanced features such as dynamic bandwidth sharing.
• Using the 3G60, a single Cisco Universal Broadband Router can support up to 576 downstream and 480 upstream channels per chassis. This is the highest CMTS capacity and density in the industry.

Mark Palazzo, vice president and general manager, Cable Access Business Unit Cisco said; "Cisco CMTS solutions are designed to support large-scale IP broadband and video services today -- as well as the migration to IP networks in the near future. We are proud to help Virgin Media achieve such significant milestones with its network capacity and broadband connection speeds."