Virgin Media UK and Nexfibre Build 2Gbps Broadband to 5,000 Strathaven Homes

UK ISP Virgin Media (O2) and network partner nexfibre, which share some of the same parentage, have today announced that they’ve expanded the reach of their 2Gbps (symmetric) speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network to reach more than 5,000 homes in the South Lanarkshire (Scotland) market town of Strathaven for “the first time.”

The town, which is home to a population of around 8,400, is already well covered by Trooli’s (formerly Axione UK) alternative full fibre network, while Openreach also has a patchy presence in the area with their own gigabit-capable broadband network. Suffice to say that the addition of nexfibre’s new network should help to boost gigabit competition in the area, although it’s a fairly small town for three fibre players.

Nexfibre reflects a £4.5bn joint venture between Telefónica, Liberty Global and InfraVia Capital Partners (here). This has so far already covered 2.5 million premises across the UK with their new full fibre network, which is being built by Virgin Media’s engineers. But the operator’s original plan to cover “up to” 7 million UK homes (starting with 5m by 2026) in areas NOT currently served by Virgin Media’s network of 16m+ premises was recently dealt a blow by Telefonica’s strategic review (here) and uncertainty remains over what comes next.

Julie Agnew, MD of Fixed Network Expansion at VMO2, said:

“5,000 more homes in Strathaven can now feel the benefit of Virgin Media’s services – with packages that include everything from next generation multigigabit broadband to easy-to-use TV streaming and entertainment services.

These ultrareliable full fibre to the home broadband connections come with high speeds, providing total peace of mind that whatever you’re doing online, you’ll never be slowed down by your service.”