The UK based Virgin Media revealed its plan to deploy high-speed broadband through fiber to the home networks to one million subscribers by 2020. The broadband service provider will connect at least 25 percent of the residential and business units that have already been covered by its fiber optic networks.
Virgin Media is currently undertaking a £3 billion Project to fiber optic network expansion throughout the nation. Around 4 million units, both residential and business have been covered with next-generation networks. The service provider is now planning to add 1 million, which is 25 percent of the 4 million to its fiber to the home broadband services.
Virgin Media’s CEO Tom Mockridge said “Our £3bn investment to bring ultrafast connectivity to more parts of the UK is not just about better broadband, it’s about future-proofing the country’s network infrastructure with the best and most modern technology.”
“While some companies talk a good game, Virgin Media is putting its money where its mouth is and laying fibre to the premise alongside our superior HFC network – delivering the fastest widely available broadband speeds.”
While the provider’s target is to connect 1 million subscribers to FTTH, it also has plans to expand its fiber coverage to 17 million premises by 2019. Virgin Media is backed by its parent company Liberty Global. Virgin Media has been deploying fiber optic cables to deliver its broadband services throughout the UK. The provider use central loose tube type cables with glass-yarn strength members to install on aerial poles.
Virgin’s FTTH rollout has started in Cambridgeshire and Leicestershire with West Yorkshire, Devon, and East Sussex identified for its next phase. The company’s decision to expand fiber optic networks would create more job opportunities and business chances for product suppliers. The UK has imported fiber optic cables from India and China for fiber deployment projects apart from utilizing incumbent cable makers.
Virgin Media’s decision to connect 1 million homes marks the latest stage of its transformation as an alternative to the aging copper telephony-based network offered by incumbent British Telecom. The plans are a significant boost to the UK’s ambitions to become a fibre nation. BT has been deploying fiber to the cabinet, but its efforts alone are not enough to provide high-speed broadband services to the potential subscribers in a shorter time.
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