Be Broadband plays catch-up with Virgin

Following yesterday's launch of Virgin Media's '50Mbps' service, Be Broadband (aka O2) has wasted no time in hopping onto the high-speed bandwagon, so to speak.

Eyeing non-cabled areas, the company announced on Tuesday that it had "successfully completed [its] first trials to double the speed of [its] up-to-24Mbps broadband to almost 50Mbps" (I assume they mean up-to-48Mbps - come on, guys, people aren't that mathematically illiterate). Be is doing this by bonding two broadband connections together - not the newest ploy, but one that has never seen widespread take-up because, well, it means paying for two connections.

"We want to push the limits of high-speed broadband," said Be MD Felix Geyr in the statement. "We already offer the fastest possible broadband on an ADSL line, but we want to take it a step further. If you want broadband around the 50Mbps mark but don't want to go the cable route, Be wants to offer you a real alternative."

Of course, Be isn't actually offering this alternative - it just wants to. Further trials will be conducted in 2009, but there is no indication yet as to when or if such a service will become an actual product.