Even as the increase in the customer-base for the faster broadband products of Virgin Media is something certainly encouraging for the ISP, there is also something in here for the country to cherish. This is nothing else than the hope that the people are getting more and more interested as well as involved in the digital advancements, and more that they are also trying to transcend.

This is obviously good news for the United Kingdom as far as its digital inclusion plan is concerned. The best part for hope in here is the fact that has been disclosed by the quarter three results of Virgin Media that around 503,500 customers signed up for the ISP’s 50Mbps and 20Mbps fast broadband packages. This figure shows a forty per cent increase than the statistics 12 months ago. Nonetheless, the company’s fastest broadband package of 50Mbps boasts of a subscriber-base of just 20,000 as the majority of the subscribers are found on its 20Mbps package.

One might wonder here what promise the comparatively low subscriber-base of the 50Mbps broadband package was holding for the digital revolution in the country. This is where the fact that the 20Mbps broadband service also shares the same infrastructure that accommodates the fastest package, comes into significance. A benefit enjoyed by Virgin Media over this set up is the reasonable returns it is gaining from its DOCSIS 3.0 network.

The price slash effected by the leading cable broadband provider of the United Kingdom on its 50Mbps broadband and home phone bundle that has lowered its price to GBP 18 per month for the first three months and there onwards GBP 28 per month, has virtually challenged as well as made the Option 3 broadband package of rival BT Total seem slow and expensive. The price of the BT package is GBP 24.46 per month, after the initial three months offer of GBP 18.59 a month.

Virgin Media here obviously holds an edge over its rival BT as the 20Mbps headline speed advertised by the latter is only attainable in the BT – WBC ADSL2+ served areas, and the speeds are also found to be limited by line length. Moreover, traffic management too affects the Option 3 package of BT. On the other hand Virgin Media is constantly upgrading its 2Mbps broadband customers to a 10Mbps broadband package; an act that would ensure that the UK ISP tops any national broadband speed test.

However, a major barrier that will be faced by the next generation broadband rollout is the cost sensitivity in the broadband market of United Kingdom, which can also be blamed as a reason for the XXL broadband packages of Virgin were not being sold in the 100,000s still.

The broadband service of Virgin Media boasts of a 50Mpbs download speed. They claim that one can download an album (60MB) in just 11 seconds and an entire movie in less than 3 minutes. Watching high definition videos is made easy too, with this broadband speed and HD means fine clarity of videos and movies. The company also states that the irritating buffering pauses and judders will no longer interrupt viewing videos directly from the Internet. Playing online multiplayer games will also be a thrilling experience with this broadband rate. Downloading games will be faster too. Sharing the Internet connection in a house or a small office without losing on speed can be made possible as well with the 50Mbps broadband.

How did Virgin Media do this? The secret behind this high speed is the fibre optic cable. This cable allows signals to be transported over longer distances, with greater speed and minimal loss.

However, there is always a difference between what’s offered and what’s practically achievable. There are several factors governing the download and upload rates. Some speed tests being conducted with Virgin Media’s super fast broadband, reveal that a downloading speed of about 45Mbps is obtainable. That’s not bad actually, but considering fibre optics, one will surely want more. We will keep our fingers crossed.