Cable operator Virgin Media has today reached a new agreement with UK property developer Redrow, which will initially result in more than 13,000 homes across Tamworth, Shrewsbury and Evesham gaining access to their 300Mbps capable broadband (HFC DOCSIS / FTTP) and TV network.
The deal, which follows a not dissimilar partnership agreement with the Home Builder’s Federation (HBF) that was signed in June 2016 (here), will steadily be expanded out to cover Redrow’s other new developments across the United Kingdom.
Apparently many of the new Redrow properties, such as at the Evesham development (Maple Gardens) in Worcestershire that will cater for around 4,400 properties, can also expect to be reached by Virgin’s new Fibre-to-the-Premise (FTTP) based broadband platform instead of their usual Hybrid Fibre Coax (HFC) based DOCSIS cable network.
Similarly Virgin Media are also building 11km of new cable ducts and trench to reach the new homes at Redrow’s Lime Tree Meadows development in Shrewsbury (Shropshire).
Paul Buttery, COO of Virgin Media, said:
“This agreement with Redrow proves that Virgin Media has the firepower to create the connected homes people need and deserve – whether it’s to work efficiently from home, run a small business or simply have the very best broadband and connected entertainment. Redrow is among the first homebuilders to benefit from working with Virgin Media at scale and we look forward to our future together.”
Mark Marsh, Technical Director for Redrow Homes (Midlands), said:
“In the digital age Internet connectivity and communications systems are high on homeowners’ agendas and they want the best services and speeds possible. Our partnership means that Redrow customers are able to move in with services including a broadband connection and Virgin TV box already installed. It’s much more convenient than having to arrange installation after you’ve moved, which could involve a wait of several weeks.
Redrow’s partnership with Virgin Media also brings wider benefits to the neighbourhoods in which we’re building, as it means that Virgin Media is able to expand its services into the community and bring fibre optic ultrafast broadband to new areas more quickly than might otherwise be possible.”
All of this supports Virgin’s on-going £3bn Project Lighting network expansion, which is extending their hybrid-fibre (DOCSIS) dominated broadband and TV infrastructure to reach an additional 4 million premises by 2019 (i.e. 60-65% of the United Kingdom). More than 1 million of those will also be catered for via pure fibre optic FTTP lines (i.e. around 25% of the planned expansion).
Once again Virgin Media are encouraging developers of all sizes to register their construction plans on a brand new portal (here), which includes “essential technical guidance” that can help them to prepare for Virgin’s network (view the technical document). Meanwhile Openreach (BT) has also done a similar deal with the HBF (here).
Mind you it’s worth remembering that BT and Virgin Media aren’t the only games in town for property developers, with others like IFNL / GTC and Hyperoptic also being available in different parts of the country.
However in all these cases the most important message to get across is that it always costs less to include superfast or ultrafast broadband infrastructure during the early build phase, before developers put concrete, bricks and tarmac over the top of everything. Digging this up again later is slower and thus more expensive.
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