Local MP, Justin Tomlinson, has welcomed the news that Virgin Media has announced that it will expand its fibre optic network to 7,000 homes and businesses in Swindon as part of its £3bn Project Lightning programme.
This investment extends Virgin Media’s existing network which passes 65,000 premises in the town giving more Swindon residents and business owners a much needed, and demanded, connectivity and entertainment boost with access to the fastest widely-available broadband speeds.
The announcement from Virgin Media presents competition for the Swindon Borough Council backed 4G Superfast Swindon project provided by UKB Networks, a contract worth almost £2m. The system, which uses 4G monopoles in select sites around the Swindon area, offers minimum speeds of 24 megabytes per second and has been fought by campaign groups in North Swindon particularly. Superfast Swindon officially launched on 11 June in Swindon town centre.
Fibre optic cables will be connected directly to premises Swindon (known as fibre to the premise – FTTP) offering ultrafast, future-proof connectivity with speeds of 200Mbps for consumers and 300Mbps for businesses and home workers. BT Openreach have been trialling their version of this technology in the North Swindon area since late February, with over 500 homes now connected.
Work will start in the next two months and will be completed in early 2017. A significant part of the build will take place in north-west Swindon covering the Haydon, Priory Vale and Blunsdon St Andrew areas. Network gaps will also be filled throughout Swindon in areas including Greenmeadow, Old Town, Toothill and Eastleaze. Local residents can find out more details about when their homes will be connected by visiting virginmedia.com/cablemystreet and registering their interest.
Justin Tomlinson MP said: “This is a significant and very much welcome boost for fellow Swindon residents. There is absolutely no doubt there will be huge demand, especially as for many it will be the first time they have access to genuinely superfast fibre broadband.”
Cllr Toby Elliott, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member responsible for superfast broadband, said: “Residents and businesses across the town have been calling for this quality, high speed, fibre broadband for some time. Justin Tomlinson MP, the ward Councillors and myself have worked with Virgin Media for over a year to deliver this and I couldn’t be more delighted about their investment in Swindon.”
Paul Buttery, Chief Operating Officer at Virgin Media, said: “The calls from residents in Swindon for better, faster broadband have been heard and Virgin Media will soon be bringing our ultrafast connectivity and top-notch entertainment to more parts of the town. This investment demonstrates that under Project Lightning Virgin Media will build to areas which no other fixed broadband provider has previously been able to connect. Given that public funding has been used in some areas of Swindon to fund a mobile broadband solution, it’s vital that local authorities properly assess the prospect of private investment before using taxpayer’s money to fund broadband rollout. We urge more communities to come together and register their interest. Your area could be connected next.”
