Silicon Roundabout start-ups praise 'world beating' Virgin 1.5Gbit/s connection

Start-ups working in the TechHub office space in the Silicon Roundabout area of London have been talking up the 1.5Gbit/s connection being trialled by Virgin Media.

Three companies told V3 that the superfast connection allows them to send large files at lightning speed and enjoy high-quality online video conversations.

Dagmara Kodlubanski, chief operating officer at Clearer Partners, a firm that offers a cloud-based video collaboration platform, explained that working online with video content demands a very fast connection.

"Being in the business of online video production means that reliable and fast broadband can make a difference between a good service and a great one," she said.

"It is key for the service to our clients as it means they can conduct their business effectively, work together, reach the market and focus on what they do best: create high-quality content."

Andrew White, founder of FundApps, which provides hedge fund companies with cloud-based software, explained that the global nature of the industry makes a fast, high-quality connection vital.

"The connection has been a great boost to our productivity. We have clients in New York, Moscow and Hong Kong, and with the ultra high-speed broadband we can have exceptionally clear and reliable video conferences," he said.

Finally, David Tenemaza Kramaley, chief executive at social gaming company Sharkius Games, said that the Virgin service has suffered some outages, but demonstrates the huge benefits of superfast broadband for businesses in the UK.

"Since it is a test service it does have its disappointing days, but that is only because of the high expectations it has created," he said.

"With a little more work Virgin could manage to keep the speeds consistently at their highest and the whole package will be like something out of a dream."

The government has set an ambitious target of 90 per cent of homes and businesses having access to 25Mbit/s connections and above by 2015.

The benefits being derived by the start-ups V3 spoke to certainly add weight to the government's argument that higher speeds are essential in helping new businesses innovate and thrive.