Fibre optic broadband is the name for the type of broadband which travels to your home via glass or plastic cables instead of the old copper ones. This type of new cable allows for the quicker transfer of data and so much a faster, more efficient and reliable service.

Telecommunication giant Virgin Media currently offers four of this type of package which according to 2017 speed tests done by Ofcom are genuinely able to reach the lightning fast speeds they advertise.

VIVID 50 Fibre broadband

• £27 per month on a 12-month contract with a £20 activation fee
• Alternatively, £33 per month on a 30-day rolling contract with a £65 activation fee
• Unlimited downloads
• Free SuperHub 3 – Virgin's fastest ever wi-fi router 
• No line rental fees
• Perfect for smaller homes with 1-4 devices

Virgin Media's cheapest fibre broadband package offers speeds of up to 50Mbps and completely unlimited downloads on either a 12-month or 30-day rolling contract.

Customers who choose the yearlong contract will need to pay £27 per month, a cost which then rises to £33 per month once you reach the end of that first year, along with a small activation fee of £20. The more flexible 30 day rolling option requires a larger upfront payment of £65 and is priced at £33 per month.

This is the perfect type of broadband for smaller households where 1-4 devices are in use and is a really brilliant value for money when you take into account what you can achieve with it.

You'll be able to stream the latest hit TV series on Netflix and participate in group video calls on Skype without any kind of irritating buffering or lagging and download a nice selection of HD movies and music albums to enjoy in a matter of minutes.

Although you might not think it, a speed of 50Mbps is actually also quick enough to support a little bit of 4K streaming.

You'll need a spare 25Mbps to watch 4K content on both Netflix and Amazon Prime Video so as long as you're only streaming to one device at a time and no-one else is doing any particularly heavy downloading, you'll be fine.

VIVID 100 Fibre broadband

• £32 a month on a 12-month contract with a £20 activation fee
• Alternatively, £38 a month on a 30-day rolling contract with an upfront fee of £65
• Unlimited downloads
• Free SuperHub 3 – Virgin's fastest ever wi-fi router 
• No line rental fees
• Ideal for slightly larger homes with 5-9 devices

If you live in a slightly larger, busier household where between 5-9 devices are constantly in use and everybody is engaging in fairly bandwidth heavy activities, you'll find that a speed of 100Mbps is much better suited to your needs.

The excellent VIVID 100 is £32 a month on the yearlong contract, then £38 a month once that year has ended, plus a £20 activation fee or £38 a month with the 30-day rolling contract with an upfront fee of £65.

Posting to social media, online banking and the like are truly no issue and 100Mbps is easily more than enough to comfortably support a huge amount of HD streaming on multiple devices, lengthy video calls, livestreaming on sites like Twitch, file sharing and glossy 4K streaming on a few of your devices simultaneously.

Combining this superfast speed with Virgin's generous unlimited downloads feature means you'll be able to almost instantly access an incredible amount of both HD films and high-quality music albums.

Online gaming also works really well at 100Mbps with even the most graphically intensive offerings running with absolutely no lag and a wonderfully smooth frame rate.

VIVID 200 Fibre broadband

• £37 per month on a 12-month contract with a £20 activation fee
• Alternatively, £43 per month on a 30-day rolling contract with a £65 activation fee
• Unlimited downloads
• Free SuperHub 3 – Virgin's fastest ever wi-fi router 
• No line rental fees
• Effortlessly able to accommodate 10 or more devices

Virgin Fibre's superb VIVID 200 package with unlimited downloads is available on a 12-month contract for £37 per month, then £43 a month once that year is up, along with a £20 activation fee or a 30-day rolling contract for £43 per month with an upfront fee of £65.

200Mbps is lightning fast, in fact over two times faster than anything currently available from either BT or Sky, and effortlessly able to accommodate a ridiculously large amount of bandwidth heavy activities simultaneously on 10 or more devices.

For example, someone in your household could be enjoying a lengthy binge session of a HD or 4K Netflix series while somebody else is competing fiercely alongside their teammates in a busy online game and you'd still be able to download several HD films almost immediately.

VIVID 300 Fibre broadband

• £42 per month on a 12-month contract with a £20 activation fee
• Alternatively, £48 per month on a 30-day rolling contract with a £65 activation fee
• Unlimited downloads
• Free SuperHub 3 – Virgin's fastest ever wi-fi router 
• No line rental fees
• The UK's fastest widely available broadband is capable of supporting a huge number of devices.

Virgin Fibre's hugely impressive top package is the fastest widely available broadband on offer in the UK right now and is capable of reaching speeds of up to a staggering 300Mbps.

On the 12-month contract, customers will need to pay £42 a month for the first year, then £48 per month after that, plus a £20 activation fee or £48 a month on the 30-day rolling contract as well as a £65 activation fee.

It's undoubtedly an attractive deal, but there's really no point in you opting for this ultrafast package unless you're certain you'll be able to use such a massive amount of bandwidth month to month on top of the unlimited downloads feature.

Being able to reach such blazingly fast speed obviously mean VIVID 300 is capable of perfectly handling absolutely anything you throw at it.

Is anything else included in my Virgin Fibre package?

Customers will also receive free, unlimited access to Virgin Media's public Wi-Fi network which features hotspots in thousands of different locations up and down the UK including coffee shops, restaurants, theme parks, airports and 250 London Underground stations.

To access the network, you'll need to download the free app from either the Google Play or App Store and sign into your Virgin Media Account with your relevant username and password combination.

Virgin Media also offers four triple play bundles which allow you to receive the brilliant speeds of VIVID fibre along with Virgin TV and Virgin Phone.

Player bundle

• 33 per month on a 12-month contract with a £20 activation fee
• Alternatively, £48 per month on a 30-day rolling contract with a £65 activation fee
• VIVID 50 fibre broadband with unlimited downloads
• 134 channels including BBC One, ITV, Channel 4, Film 4, E4, Dave and ITV2
• Access to catch-up services and Netflix providing you've got a subscription
• A free 1TB Virgin TV V6 Box and SuperHub 3
• Virgin Talk with free weekend calls to all UK landlines and Virgin Mobile numbers

Virgin's Player bundle is an excellent option for any smaller households on a budget as you'll receive a pretty good mix of content from the 52 available entertainment channels and you can easily supplement that with Netflix, the included catch-up services and Virgin's handy unlimited downloads feature.

50Mbps broadband is easily able to support around 1-4 devices and capable of downloading lots of HD films and TV shows in hardly any time at all, even while somebody else is simultaneously streaming Netflix.

The staggering 1TB V6 box is great for saving up unmissable content you'd like to binge on at a later date being able to store up to 500 hours of SD content and 100 hours of HD content. You can also record up to 6 shows at once while you're busy watching a 7th and pause and rewind live TV.

Customers also have access to the Virgin Media Store where you can buy and keep a selection of the latest TV and DVD releases for slightly less than what you'd find on the high street.

With Virgin Talk, you'll get free weekend calls to all UK landlines and Virgin Mobile numbers as well as inclusive weekend minutes to 0870 numbers.

Mix bundle

• £45 per month on a 12-month contract with a £20 activation fee
• VIVID 100 fibre broadband with unlimited downloads
• 231 TV channels including Sky One, Fox, E! and Comedy Central
• Access to catch-up services and Netflix providing you've got a subscription
• A free 1TB Virgin TV V6 Box and a free SuperHub 3
• Virgin Talk with free weekend calls to all UK landlines and Virgin Mobile numbers

Virgin's mid-tier triple play bundle is ideal for bigger households who would like a greater variety of TV channels and require significantly faster broadband speeds.

You've got a better selection of popular entertainment channels like Sky One, MTV, Fox, Comedy Central and E! and all of the great content that's featured in the Virgin Store along with Cartoon Network and Boomerang to keep children thoroughly entertained.

There's also Sky Sports News, Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2 for thrilling coverage of major events from all kinds of sports like tennis, golf and motor-racing.

100Mbps of internet gives you the freedom to stream and download considerably more content in both HD and stunning 4K as well as enjoy long online multiplayer gaming sessions.

Full House bundle

• £55 per month on a 12-month contract with a £20 activation fee
• VIVID 100 fibre broadband with unlimited downloads
• 331 channels including BT Sport 1, 2 and 3, Nickelodeon, Disney and National Geographic
• Access to catch-up services and Netflix providing you've got a subscription
• Virgin TV box sets
• 2 free 1TB Virgin TV V6 boxes and a free SuperHub 3
• Virgin Talk with free weekend calls to all UK landlines and Virgin Mobile numbers

There really is something for everyone in the Full House bundle from die-hard sports fans and box-set bingers to children of all ages and documentary lovers.

All of the premium children's channels are available, including Disney, Disney XD, Disney Junior, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr and Cartoon Network, so no matter how old your children are there will always be plenty of fun content for them to enjoy.

BT Sport 1, BT Sport 2 and BT Sport 3, which are available in both SD and glorious HD, head up an impressive range of sports channels where you can catch every exciting UEFA Champions League match as well as all of the latest action from both Premiership Rugby and the Rugby Union, cricket, MMA, tennis, boxing and motorsport.

Virgin's TV box sets feature an excellent variety of both brand-new unmissable shows and old favourites across all kinds of different genres along with some great Virgin exclusives like MMA drama Kingdom and gory-horror comedy Ash vs Evil Dead.

By placing the additional V6 box elsewhere in your home, you'll be able to take advantage of Virgin's multi-room feature and watch any of the recordings you've made or the channels you receive as part of your package away from your main TV.

VIP bundle

• £88 per month on a 12-month contract with a £20 activation fee
• VIVID 300 fibre broadband with unlimited downloads
• 369 channels including all of Sky Sports and Sky Cinema channels in HD
• Access to catch-up services, Netflix and Hayu providing you've got a subscription
• Virgin TV box sets
• 2 free 1TB Virgin TV V6 Boxes and a free SuperHub 3
• Talk More Anytime with free anytime calls to UK landlines and Virgin Mobile numbers

Virgin's premium triple play bundle comes with blazingly fast 300Mbps broadband, Talk More Anytime and an absolutely huge selection of fantastic TV channels for you and all of the members of your household to enjoy.

Along with all of the top-quality kids and entertainment channels, which includes Disney, Nickelodeon, all of the main terrestrial channels, MTV, SyFy, Fox, Comedy Central, Sky One, TLC and Dave, there's also plenty of great options from educational, lifestyle and news channels.

Between of all the BT Sport channels, all of the Sky Sports channels and a few nice niche extras, sport fans will be able to watch in-depth coverage of practically every type of sport and major sporting event there is.

Sky Cinema boasts 11 different channels 9 of which are all dedicated to a specific genre including action, sci-fi & horror, thriller, comedy and two more with revolving themes that in the past has included spies, superheroes and Star Wars.

Along with all of the first-rate content available with Netflix and Virgin TV box sets, VIP customers will (providing they've already got a subscription) be able to access streaming platform Hayu which features thousands of hours of reality TV content.

With Talk More Anytime, you'll receive free unlimited calls to all UK landlines and mobile numbers regardless of what time of day it is or what provider your friends and family are with.

How do I know if Virgin Media is available in my area?

You should enter your postcode into the postcode checker on Virgin Media's website to see whether or not you're able to receive their services in your area.