Cable operator Virgin Media has announced the second expansion of their broadband, phone and TV network since the summer, with 5,000 homes in the North East of England being added to their list for 2014. Most of the work will take place in Hartlepool, Darlington, Sunderland and Stockton-On-Tees.
The latest work, which follows a similar announcement during August 2014 that confirmed 100,000 premises in East London would be gaining access to Virgin Media’s 152Mbps capable cable (DOCSIS3/EuroDOCSIS3) service (here), is set to be completed by the end of this month.
Apparently at least some of the new development occurred as a result of a collaboration between Virgin Media, local councils and residents in the related areas (e.g. the Hardwick Estate in Stockton). The effort was supported by MP Alex Cunningham and others.
Alex Cunningham, MP for Stockton North, said:
“We are very happy that Virgin Media is expanding its network across the region and not just in Stockton. By working together with residents, Virgin Media and the council we’re helping local people get faster broadband speeds and have created a model for other areas to follow when it comes to building better broadband.”
Admittedly 5,000 isn’t much, at least in terms of the grander national picture, although after so many years of hoping for further expansion it’s good to finally see Virgin Media now starting to take a more pro-active approach. Sadly Virgin are staying tight lipped about how much all of this is going to cost, which would be useful to know in order to compare with BT’s rival FTTC deployments.
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