Virgin Media UK Tests New Camouflage for Broadband Cabinets UPDATE

Cable ISP Virgin Media has teamed up with a development of new build houses in the Tees Valley area (Wynyard Park) and a graphic design firm (Shutter Media), which has enabled them to create a series of disguises that will be wrapped around 16 of their ultrafast broadband supplying street cabinets.

The tactic of disguising street cabinets by painting them a different colour or wrapping them in a special vinyl-based pattern (i.e. to match their surroundings) has been used before (Openreach and KCOM do it and Virgin Media have done a few too). But lately the designs have become more complex, thanks in part to modern printing and paint techniques.

In this case the Wynyard Park development spans 885 acres and sits in a rural setting. As a result the developer appears to have gone the extra mile in trying to conceal local infrastructure among the surrounding greenery. This has meant wrapping Virgin Media’s cabinets in detailed designs like the woodlands stag setting pictured above, while others will be made to look like brick or rendering etc.

Craig Pinder, Wynyard Park Development Manager, said:

“I saw an opportunity to add a bit of imagination and colour to some of the cabinets that have to be installed as part of the infrastructure and that’s when we decided to wrap the initial two.

The residents’ garden is a nice, relaxing area adjoining some of our woodland. We wanted residents and guests to focus on the beauty of the garden rather than the cabinets.

The new graphics will certainly add a unique feel to the estate. We get people stopping and taking photos with the first two boxes we trialled.”

Apparently more than 16 cabinets in the area may eventually benefit from the co-funded pilot and their popularity has meant that Shutter Media are already expanding, with several street cabinets in Manchester and London also receiving the same treatment.

Vinyl is used because it adheres to galvanised steel and the graphics can then be painted onto that with latex, which is then given UVA protection. The wraps themselves have a 7-10 year lifespan, so they may eventually start to fade and need to be re-done.

Nevertheless it’s quite a nice piece of work and there are certainly a lot of areas that could benefit from this, although there is an extra cost attached and thus most street cabinets tend to stick with the more familiar dark green or cream colours.

UPDATE 20th Nov 2018

We’ve also got a picture of the brick wall wrap being used.