Virgin Media Business Bring 100Mbps Broadband to SMEs in Central Leeds

Cable operator Virgin Media Business has announced that nearly 1,500 businesses in 125 buildings located inside the Leeds City Centre area will gain access to their symmetric 100Mbps or faster broadband service, thanks to the operator’s on-going network expansion.

Virgin states that Leeds is the 4th major UK city identified by the operator, after London’s Tech City, Manchester’s Northern Quarter and Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, as an area that would benefit from their ultrafast connectivity.

The latest expansion should also be taken as a complement to last year’s announcement (here), which confirmed that an additional 80,000 premises (mostly homes) in Leeds would soon be given access to the operator’s national cable network and we recently reported on one of the areas to directly benefit from this (here).

Mike Smith, VMB’s Director of SME, said:

“Small businesses with big ambitions need reliable, secure, high speed internet access in order to thrive. Better connectivity will transform Leeds tech hubs and allow these businesses to seize the chance to become digital leaders.”

James Lewis, Deputy Leader of Leeds City Council, said:

“We welcome this programme of digital investment in Leeds and hope that this will offer small businesses the opportunity to boost their speeds and productivity. By encouraging providers like Virgin Media to invest in Leeds, we can help to establish a competitive market and provide a genuine choice for customers.”

The network being deployed is specifically designed to cater for the needs of small businesses. In that sense VMB are installing a 1Gbps fibre optic line (FTTP/B) into each building and then giving the individual businesses access to a dedicated internet connection with symmetrical speeds of either 50Mbps or 100Mbps, which should be enough for most of them. As usual there’s also the option of an expensive 1Gbps Leased Line if something more substantial is required.