9,000 Premises in Stepps to Get Virgin Media Broadband Ultrafast

Cable ISP Virgin Media UK has today announced that 9,000 homes and businesses in the small town of Stepps (North Lanarkshire, Scotland) will be the next to gain access to their 350Mbps capable ultrafast broadband and TV network, which forms part of their on-going £3bn Project Lightning deployment.

So far Project Lightning has reached more than 120,000 additional premises across Scotland since 2016 (overall total of more than 1 million premises passed) and they expect to cover a total of around 360,000 by the end of 2019 (here), when both the wider UK network extension programme and the roll-out in Stepps is due to complete.

We should point out that Project Lightning as a whole aims to build out to an additional 4 million UK premises by around the end of 2019 (roughly 60%+ coverage), which will result in Virgin Media’s network reaching a total of 17 million premises (i.e. new and existing deployments).

Cllr Kenneth Duffy, Infrastructure Committee at North Lanarkshire Council, said:

“We strongly welcome Virgin Media’s continued investment into North Lanarkshire which will give residents in Stepps access to the benefits of ultrafast broadband, as well as more choice. This private investment fits perfectly into the Council’s ambitions to become a digital pioneer and we are working closely with Virgin Media, who are a major employer in North Lanarkshire, to ensure disruption to residents is kept to a minimum.”

The operator tends to use narrow trenching (where possible) in order to minimise disruption and locals are usually informed about the work at least one week in advance, although some have previously complained that they needed more notice. A Local Community Liaison Officer will also be available to discuss any concerns.