Insight Communications Co. Inc. has officially joined the Docsis 3.0 club with the launch of a 50Mbit/s (downstream) tier in three markets: Northern Kentucky; Bowling Green, Ky.; and Evansville, Ind.

The launch, mentioned on CEO Michael Willner's blog, comes about a month after Insight promised to launch D3 in two markets by the end of the year. (See Insight Preps Docsis 3.0 Launches .)

Insight is heading into the wideband era with a 50Mbit/s upstream and an unbound 5Mbit/s upstream. An MSO spokeswoman said the tier, dubbed Broadband 50.0, sells for $95 per month -- $35 more than Insight's next fastest tier, which offers downstream bursts of 30 Mbit/s.

Willner noted that Insight will announce timing of D3 launches in its Louisville and Lexington, Ky., systems "in the coming days."

Why this matters
Following broad launches by major MSOs such as Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK), Docsis 3.0 speeds are starting to reach the second tier of the market with some regularity. In the case of Insight, its initial three-market wideband play will help it outpace AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) U-verse, which currently tops out at 24 Mbit/s downstream.

For more:

• Mediacom Widening Wideband Reach
• Mediacom to Wear Speed King Crown
• Knology Expands D3 Footprint
• WOW Gets D3 Ball Rolling
• Sunflower Uncaps D3 Video Tier
• RCN Gets Docsis 3.0 Ball Rolling
• BendBroadband Caps Docsis 3.0

— Jeff Baumgartner, Site Editor, Light Reading Cable