Mobile,High Speed Broadband Services,Mobile Downloads

Do you like the idea of downloading an entire music album in less then 11 seconds? Or do you want to grab an 800 megabyte high definition movie file in just 3 minutes? If you answered yes to both, then Virgin Media has a ready solution for you.

The powerhouse UK cable company is offering an astonishing 50 MB broadband connection for all UK households. This is the fastest net speed in the history of UK and is considered as the next generation service for 2009.

Talk of Virgin’s 50 MB high speed connectivity plan has been circulating throughout the Internet. Naturally, this created a buzz in the online world especially with British tech bloggers and news sites.

Last December 2008, Virgin Media announced that it will unveil the fastest broadband service for the general public in the year 2009. This will put the UK cable company at the top of the list of the fastest ISPs in the entire country. Virgin started trial testing the service last year on several households in Kent.

Different Plans for More Flexible Service

Virgin Media is offering different broadband service plans for UK households. According to the company, such flexibility of service will allow UK consumers to choose which plan would be best for them.

First, you can avail of the triple play service which is actually a bundled plan consisting of a dedicated landline subscription, 50 MB broadband service, and cable TV service. The triple play plan will cost 66 Pounds per month.

According to the company, such bundled service plan is ideal for new subscribers and households that want to share several broadband connections. The ultra fast Internet connection will be able to handle multiple users on a single router without significant degeneration of connection speeds.

Consumers can also opt to avail of broadband-only service if they do not want to take the cable TV and landline services. This service will cost 55 Pounds per month. Virgin media said such plan would be ideal for educational institutions with several computer consoles sharing a connection.

With the 50 MB superfast broadband connection, an entire computer laboratory will be able to enjoy high speed Internet service for every user.

Internet Infrastructure Issues that Face Virgin’s High Speed Service

Virgin Media is a reliable provider of high speed Internet connection for many years already. Customers have been satisfied by the quality of service and reliable Internet connection provided by the cable company.

The biggest issue facing the ultra high speed broadband plan is the Internet infrastructure of UK. Some technology analysts contend that most telephone lines on UK still use copper wiring. Such telephone technology will not be able to handle fast connections and might result to quality of service issues.

UK communication regulators said that it will take 15 billion Pounds to upgrade the public telephone system. Government regulators however are optimistic that such upgrade would benefit the country in the long term.

For now, Virgin’s 50 MB broadband service can only be enjoyed by 16 million British households. Government officials and company executives agree that high speed connectivity would be socially and economically beneficial for the entire country.

But many people will ponder over this and wonder why they need to compare Broadband services and packages. In the United Kingdom, Broadband or ADSL connectivity is mainly provided by BT through phone lines, and reaches 99% homes in the UK. Internet connectivity is also provided through cable and fiber optic lines in the same way as cable TV. Currently, Virgin Media is the only major cable company providing Internet connectivity through cable networks in neighboring areas throughout the UK. But this is limited to the areas in which cable connectivity exists. In order to make Internet connectivity through Broadband more easily available, a new method called LLU or Local Loop Unbundling has been introduced.

This method makes the phone company’s (BT and Kingston) local network in the UK, available to other ISPs. The local network is the copper cable connections from customer’s homes to the exchanges. This ensures that BT and Kingston do not have a monopoly, and has led to the emergence of many service providers for Internet connectivity. If you cannot receive Broadband connectivity through any of these methods, you can opt for other technologies like Satellite and wireless Internet connectivity. There are numerous Internet Service Providers with numerous deals and packages, which offer a variety of services and usage options. This is why you should compare Broadband services, packages, and deals, and ensure that you subscribe for the right package. But what should you look for and compare in Broadband?

The first issue that you have to resolve is the question of usage.

For how many hours a day will you require Internet connectivity?

Do you require it for surfing only or downloading and uploading files?

Is limited usage okay or do you require unlimited usage?

Do you require high bandwidth and speed or will low bandwidth and speed be okay?

What is the amount of money that you are willing to spend on Internet connectivity?

Once you have answered these questions, you can look around for companies that provide Broadband connectivity in your area. Compare their prices, packages, and services according to your requirements. Just do not select the package that the company’s salesperson recommends. Compare the services, monthly costs, usage, and timing restrictions on use of the Internet, installation charges, and more. Every service provider will have multiple packages designed according to customer requirements. You should also compare bandwidths and speed offered in different packages by different service providers, but at different prices.

Another issue to consider before selecting a Broadband package and service provider is the service issue. How responsive is the ISP to complaints about disconnectivity and other service issues. Do they respond quickly to customer’s complaints? Search for feedback about the ISPs services on the Internet. Ask around your neighborhood, and talk to someone who uses the company’s Internet service, or better still ask the company’s salesperson to inform you about an existing client from whom you can get some feedback. It is easy to get Internet connectivity in the UK, but once you do, and fail to get the required service, you will regret it at leisure. This is why you should compare Broadband service before subscribing for an Internet connection.