Cable ISP Virgin Media has announced that their network extension in Inverclyde (Scotland) has now completed, which means that 4,800 extra homes and business can now access their soon-to-be 1Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based broadband network (currently 500Mbps+).
As usual this forms part of their national Project Lightning build, which aims to add an additional 3-4 million premises to their UK coverage (so far they’ve completed nearly 2 million) using a mix of Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) via Radio Frequency Over Glass (RFoG) and Hybrid Fibre Coax (HFC) technology. Both methods make use of the DOCSIS standard so as to harness the same consumer hardware.
We know from Virgin Media’s past announcements that their £3bn build originally aimed to reach an additional 360,000 premises in Scotland by around the end of 2020 (here), although given previous delays it may take them longer to reach that target.
On top of that it’s worth reminding readers that the community of Kilmacolm in Inverclyde was one of ten other areas selected back in 2016 for a network build by Virgin Media, largely as a result of strong local demand (here).
Colin Brown, Virgin Media’s Build Director for Scotland, said:
“We know how important ultrafast and reliable broadband is to so many aspects of modern-day living, so it’s great news for the local people and businesses in Inverclyde that we’ve now finished our expansion in the area. More than 4,800 homes and premises now have access to the UK’s fastest widely available network, which means they can do all the things they love and need to do more easily and more quickly.”
The operator is also just starting to rollout their new DOCSIS 3.1 network upgrade (here), which by the end of 2021 should have boosted their top broadband download speeds up to 1Gbps across the United Kingdom (currently starting in Southampton and Greater Manchester).
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