Customers in Heysham and the Marsh area of Lancaster can sign-up to the new services, including Gig1 broadband, which provides top speeds of 1,130Mbps – 17 times faster than the local average. These hyperfast connections can meet the needs of busy households working remotely, streaming UHD TV shows and films, video calling friends and family, and playing games online.
The network has been built on behalf of nexfibre, which is investing £4.5 billion to provide high-speed FTTH connections to 5 million homes across the UK by 2026. Virgin Media O2 is using this next-generation network to deliver its broadband and TV Stream services to homes and businesses in the area.
County Councillor Aidy Riggott, cabinet member for economic development and growth, said, “We welcome the latest expansion of full fibre broadband to over 12,000 homes in Heysham and Marsh, thanks to this multi-million pound investment.
“This step forward aligns strongly with Lancashire’s broader economic and regeneration activities and will build on and support projects delivered by the County Council.
“We look forward to continuing to work closely with our partners in continuing to expand and to enable high quality broadband in the semi-rural and suburban parts of Lancashire to provide an essential boost to the local and national economy.”
Julie Agnew, managing director of fixed network expansion at Virgin Media O2, said, “12,000 more premises in Heysham and Lancaster can now feel the benefit of Virgin Media’s services – with packages that include everything from next generation gigabit broadband to easy-to-use TV streaming and entertainment services.
“These ultrareliable full fibre to the home broadband connections come with speeds – up to 17 times faster than local average – providing total peace of mind that whatever you’re doing online, you’ll never be slowed down by your service.”
Rajiv Datta, CEO at nexfibre, said: “We’re proud to be able to facilitate access to full fibre broadband to more than 12,000 premises in Heysham and Lancaster, thanks to our multi-million pound investment. We continue on our mission to build and expand our network in suburban and semi-rural areas, play our part in helping to close the digital divide and boost the UK economy.”
Virgin Media O2 offers speeds of 1,000Mbps-plus across its network. The company invests around £2 billion per year in its networks and services, and is in the process of upgrading its fixed network to FTTH technology over the coming years.
Virgin Media O2’s mobile network also covers 99 per cent of the nation’s population with 4G, with the business also rolling out 5G services to bring the latest mobile connectivity to more parts of the country.
nexfibre is a joint venture between InfraVia Capital Partners, Liberty Global and Telefónica and is financed with £4.5 billion of equity and debt investment. It will initially roll out fibre to 5 million homes not currently served by Virgin Media O2’s network by 2026, with the opportunity to expand to an additional 2 million homes. Virgin Media O2 is the anchor tenant of this joint venture and provides build services to nexfibre. Together the nexfibre and Virgin Media O2 networks will cover up to 23 million premises or around 80 per cent of the UK over the coming years.