Some 640 premises in Chilbolton and Goodworth Clatford can now access Virgin Media’s Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based ultrafast broadband and TV network. These are among the first to benefit from a new community driven scheme that is extending the service to cover 12 villages in the Test and Dun Valleys of Hampshire.
As we first reported last year (here), the unique opportunity that local residents have stems from the fact that Virgin Media already owns an old cable duct along the Test Way, which is being used as a springboard to provide a “genuine all-fibre network” via their latest “full fibre” style FTTP infrastructure. Note: This still makes use of DOCSIS transmissions thanks to Radio Radio Frequency over Glass (RFoG) technology.
Local residents had previously been campaigning to get Virgin Media’s cable ISP into the area for several years (TVNeed4Speed) and happily work to build the new network finally began in March 2018 (here). The operator was able to confirm that the deployment would be commercially viable by ensuring that local residents and businesses were fully committed.
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Key Criteria
* 30% or more of the residents (1,200 premises) had to register their interest;
* More than 1,000 local residents had to commit to take broadband services from Virgin Media. This was achieved with a 38% sign-up average across the valley, with some villages reaching 78%.
NOTE: The campaign FAQ suggests that locals have to pay a one-off flat-rate Network Installation fee of £300 per property, which is on top of VM’s £20 activation fee and a standard install fee of approximately £0 to £99.
The villages that stand to benefit by completion at the end of 2019 include: Houghton, West Tytherley, Broughton, Wherwell, Winterslow, Firsdown, Michelmersh, Timsbury, Kings Somborne, Goodworth Clatford, Chilbolton and Stockbridge. Overall Virgin Media is expected to fund the bulk of construction costs (estimates suggested it could cost up to £20m) and this is being complemented by support from locals.
Hugh Woolford, Regional Director at Virgin Media, said:
“We are delighted that local residents and businesses in these villages can now start to benefit from the boost our ultrafast broadband will give them. They’re the first communities in the Test and Dun Valleys to experience our incredible service and we will continue to rollout our network to more villages in the area as soon as we can.”
Cllr Phil North, Leader of Test Valley Borough Council, said:
“Access to superfast broadband for Hampshire homes and businesses is an important contributor to economic prosperity. The work of the Test Valley community and Virgin Media is very welcome indeed, demonstrating what can be achieved by residents working collaboratively to find effective broadband solutions in ‘hard to reach’ areas.”
Julie Connor, Local Resident, said:
“As we live in a rural area, we felt left behind by the technological advance happening in more urban areas and was frustrated by the lack of action from some internet providers. Virgin Media has really been on board with us from the very start and I really want to thank them for being so dedicated and approachable.”
In terms of the physical deployment, many of the villages should start to be reached this year but Houghton, Broughton, West Tytherley, Winterslow and Firsdown will have to wait until 2019. Luckily that’s not too far away now.
Virgin Media has previously spoken about the possibility of extending this sort of community-backed deployment model to other others (i.e. rural parts of the UK), although not all will be so fortunate as to have an existing optical fibre cable running nearby.
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