bassethound
08-08-11, 15:25
Virgin Media has today confirmed plans to expand its fibre optic cable network to around 100,000 more UK households by the end of this year as it continues its battle with BT.
The cable operator said that a "substantial new construction project" will get under way in Southampton which will double its network reach in the city. Further projects are also planned "for 2011 and beyond".
During the first half of this year, Virgin Media extended its cable infrastructure to an additional 73,000 homes, including significant expansions in Derry, Northern Ireland and Staines in West London. New services made available to customers in these areas include 100Mbps broadband and Virgin Media's new converged TV service powered by US DVR giant TiVo.
Virgin Media said that a network upgrade is required as its customers are now downloading 43% more data on average compared with 2007, consuming more than 25Gb every month, equivalent to 30 hours of online TV.
The company has invested £13 billion to date in its fibre optic network to compete with telecoms giant BT, which also offers fibre broadband via its BT Infinity service.
BT plans to invest £1.5 billion in reaching around 10 million UK homes with fibre broadband by 2012. But Virgin Media claims that the majority of BT's data network is still reliant on copper telephone wiring, or even aluminium, which delivers significantly lower speeds compared with fibre, according to Ofcom.
Virgin Media's executive director of broadband Jon James said: "By extending our unique fibre optic network to parts of the country previously outside our traditional heartland, we're ensuring more people can experience the compelling advantages that a superfast connection can bring and in doing so, support the government's digital ambitions.
"Today's increasingly digital lifestyle requires better broadband and we've seen a strong response from the communities we expand into who are crying out for quality services.
"We're adding thousands of homes to our network every month as our expansion programme continues and we look for opportunities to give more people access to the fastest broadband and best in home entertainment."
Virgin Media recently completed a trial of the world's fastest cable broadband, at 1.5Gb, in east London, demonstrating the future potential of its network infrastructure.
The company has also teamed up with Fujitsu to explore ways to bring broadband to hard-to-reach rural areas, potentially connecting millions of currently "digitally disenfranchised homes".
The cable operator said that a "substantial new construction project" will get under way in Southampton which will double its network reach in the city. Further projects are also planned "for 2011 and beyond".
During the first half of this year, Virgin Media extended its cable infrastructure to an additional 73,000 homes, including significant expansions in Derry, Northern Ireland and Staines in West London. New services made available to customers in these areas include 100Mbps broadband and Virgin Media's new converged TV service powered by US DVR giant TiVo.
Virgin Media said that a network upgrade is required as its customers are now downloading 43% more data on average compared with 2007, consuming more than 25Gb every month, equivalent to 30 hours of online TV.
The company has invested £13 billion to date in its fibre optic network to compete with telecoms giant BT, which also offers fibre broadband via its BT Infinity service.
BT plans to invest £1.5 billion in reaching around 10 million UK homes with fibre broadband by 2012. But Virgin Media claims that the majority of BT's data network is still reliant on copper telephone wiring, or even aluminium, which delivers significantly lower speeds compared with fibre, according to Ofcom.
Virgin Media's executive director of broadband Jon James said: "By extending our unique fibre optic network to parts of the country previously outside our traditional heartland, we're ensuring more people can experience the compelling advantages that a superfast connection can bring and in doing so, support the government's digital ambitions.
"Today's increasingly digital lifestyle requires better broadband and we've seen a strong response from the communities we expand into who are crying out for quality services.
"We're adding thousands of homes to our network every month as our expansion programme continues and we look for opportunities to give more people access to the fastest broadband and best in home entertainment."
Virgin Media recently completed a trial of the world's fastest cable broadband, at 1.5Gb, in east London, demonstrating the future potential of its network infrastructure.
The company has also teamed up with Fujitsu to explore ways to bring broadband to hard-to-reach rural areas, potentially connecting millions of currently "digitally disenfranchised homes".