Ntl, the UK’s largest cable operator, said it will begin field trials that will let it offer broadband data service at speeds up to 100 Megabits per second. The trials will begin in March after successful completion of lab tests.

The company is using Arris’ FlexPath channel bonded solution, which is included in its Cadant C4 CMTS and Touchstone Wideband Modems. For Arris, the trial is significant in part because ntl has not been a traditional customer of the vendor. Additionally, the test will give the company the opportunity to put its version of bonding through a live network.

Arris’ flavor of bonding doesn’t require channels to be physically located next to one another, an approach that was recently adopted by CableLabs as part of the DOCSIS 3.0 specification. At ntl, the company will use a pre-DOCSIS 3.0 version that is essentially the same, said Hans Plug, senior director of product line management for Arris.

“Imagine having four pipes all carrying water, but at the end they’re all connected,” he said. “You can have multiple subscribers at the far end of the pipe. The approach we use is the same that has been approved by CableLabs.”

In previous versions of DOCSIS, subscribers were limited to getting a total capacity of around 40 Mb/s. Like prior specifications, DOCSIS 3.0 still relies on shared bandwidth and doesn’t dedicated specific levels of bandwidth per home. However, Plug said the new standard addresses that issue in a couple of ways.

“You take statistical multiplexing [by bonding channels] to get better perceived bandwidth,” he said. “And then, second, the nodes are getting smaller too, so you’re getting fewer subscribers per node and that gets you actual more bandwidth.”