Virgin scheme gives rural broadband boost
January 30, 2020
Virgin Media reports it has transformed rural homes and businesses in Test & Dun Valley with ultrafast broadband speeds after a local campaign group lobbied the company for faster broadband.
Residents living in 12 villages in Test & Dun Valley, which stretches across Hampshire and Wiltshire, previously experienced some of the slowest broadband speeds in the UK. That is now a thing of the past thanks to an innovative and first-of-its-kind scheme for Virgin Media which was created after a local campaign group – Need4Speed – asked the company to bring its network to the area following a string of broken promises from other providers.
With average broadband speeds of 516Mbps – which is over 500 times faster than the previous connectivity experienced by some villagers – locals are now reaping the benefits of this collaboration and investment. Their speeds will be further boosted when gigabit connectivity (1000Mbps) comes to the area by the end of 2021 as part of the company’s ongoing investment to make Gig1, the UK’s fastest home broadband service, available to everyone on its network.
Rob Evans, MD Network Expansion at Virgin Media, said: “Our network investment and expansion in Test and Dun Valley has brought life-changing connectivity to an area forgotten by other providers. This was a completely new concept for us which required a unique approach in what was one of our most rural broadband builds to date. It has been a real collaborative effort from the start and it wouldn’t have been possible without the support from residents and landowners. We’re proud to give this community the broadband boost it deserves.”