The fastest Virgin between London and Manchester
By Davey Winder in Editorial
Posted in networks, broadband, Blog, Internet on
Virgin Media, together with Nortel and Juniper Networks, has successfully conducted a North-South 40G trial over a live commercial network covering 217 miles of the current 10G network infrastructure. As far as I am aware this is the first time such a trial has been attempted in the UK, certainly the first to be successful or I am pretty damn sure the PR companies would have been shouting about it given the competition in the domestic broadband market right now.
It all took place, so I am reliably informed, late in April and involved carrying live 40Gbps wavelength traffic across that 350km optical network span using Nortel core optical kit and Juniper Networks T-series core routers with 40Gbps interfaces. By deploying 40Gbps technology in this way, Virgin was able to increase the performance of both IP/MPLS and optical networks as well as, obviously, the overall capacity. Perhaps most importantly, however, it showed that Virgin Media is up providing a dynamic 40G wavelength service over the entire length of its Nortel supplied Common Photonic Layer: that’s 2500km nationwide to be precise.
The April trial itself happened between the Manchester and London PoPs where the Juniper Networks high-performance T-series core routers are located. It is the first time that 40Gbps transport has happened over a commercial network carrying live traffic over the 40G wavelengths in the UK without any regeneration, external dispersion compensation or costly Raman amplification by using the Nortel 40G Adaptive Optical Engine WDM transponder technology. This allows those 40Gbps wavelengths to be deployed “immediately” and in conjunction with the fact that the existing Juniper T-series router cores can be upgraded to 40G ports means that, hopefully, more effective deployments of next generation services can be achieved for a relatively low incremental investment.
“Our aim for this trial was to ensure we continue to meet the growing capacity needs of the high-speed services we deliver and provide a quality experience for Virgin Media customers,” said Daniel Hennessy, director of Technical Architecture, Virgin Media. “Our strategic suppliers have demonstrated very clearly how existing network assets can be scaled to meet the growth in demand associated with evolving customer behavior and step changes in the products provided as part of our high-speed broadband proposition. Our optical network will provide a solid foundation for growth as it takes advantage of technology designed to avoid electrical regeneration and where possible reduce the incremental cost of scaling transport capacity.”
Which just leaves me to ask the question: so when will a Virgin Media 50Mb service be available in my South Yorkshire village? Actually, when will any Virgin Media cable be available in my village? Never, oh, I see. Still, the thought was nice while it lasted…
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