Virgin Media bringing ultrafast broadband to up to 1,200 premises
Offering speeds more than 16 times faster than the local average
Virgin Media announces up to 1,200 homes and businesses in Portadown, Northern Ireland, will be next to benefit from an ultrafast broadband and entertainment boost.
As part of its ‘Project Lightning’ network expansion programme, Virgin Media plans to extend its ultrafast broadband network to Portadown bringing speeds of up to 350Mbps for residents and small businesses. This will help transform the quality of broadband in the town where the average (median) download speed is currently just 20.8Mbps*.
Work is underway already with completion expected by the end of 2019.
With a 350Mbps connection, files, films and games become unbelievably quick to stream, download and upload:
· Download a standard HD movie file (5GB) in just over two minutes, compared to more than 30 minutes on the average local connection;
· Download a 25GB console game in just over 10 minutes, compared to almost three hours on the average local connection**.
Conor Harrison, Regional Director at Virgin Media, said: “Time-strapped families and small businesses across Portadown will soon be benefiting from our brilliant broadband service. Laying new fibre means we have to dig up roads and pavements but we will do our best to minimise any disruption to the community. Giving them greater speeds will enable them to do the things they need to do and love doing more quickly and more easily.”
Lord Mayor of Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon, Councillor Julie Flaherty, said: “This is brilliant news for Portadown. We are delighted to see ultrafast broadband being rolled out to up to 1,200 homes and businesses in the area. Whatever you do online can be done better with fibre broadband so investing in a network with speeds more than 16 times faster than the current average is a tremendous boost. Good connectivity is essential in the modern world with the rise of on-line services, and it allows businesses and homes to make the most of the internet.”
Virgin Media will be using narrow trenching techniques, where suitable conditions allow, to ensure its build is as efficient as possible and helps create minimal levels of waste and reduces the disruption to the community.
Virgin Media will post information leaflets to premises which might be affected at least a week before work starts on their street. Its Local Community Liaison Officers will also be available to discuss the community’s concerns. In the near future Virgin Media will be hosting community information events which will give residents and businesses the opportunity to ask any questions or raise any concerns they may have: details will be promoted in local shop windows and on social media.
Virgin Media’s gigabit-ready lines will mean residents can also sign up to Virgin TV and benefit from the latest entertainment on its new smallest, smartest, fastest, 4k-ready V6 set-top box.
This is on top of great programming with up to 260 TV channels (including up to 50 HD channels) and all the football from Sky Sports and BT Sports. Virgin Media also offers Sky Movies and Netflix, as well as an extensive on demand library of TV box sets and movies; giving customers seamless access to the TV they want, all in one place.
Residents can also benefit from Virgin Mobile’s fast 4G connectivity, which for pay monthly customers includes data free Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger and Twitter, as well as the ability to rollover unused data each month and have truly unlimited data packages.
For any questions about Virgin Media engineering works, residents can do the following:
E mail: ExpansionWorks@virginmedia.co.uk
Phone: 0333 000 5925
For further information, visit: www.virginmedia.com/lightning/network-expansion
Ends
Notes to Editors
*The average (median) broadband speed in Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council is 20.8Mbps. Source: Ofcom, Connected Nations Report 2017, published December 15 2017.
** Download speeds calculated using www.download-time.com
About Virgin Media
Virgin Media offers four multi award-winning services across the UK and Ireland: broadband, TV, mobile phone and landline.
Our dedicated, ultrafast network delivers the fastest widely-available broadband speeds to homes and businesses and we’re expanding this through our Project Lightning programme, which could extend our network to up to 17 million premises.
Our interactive Virgin TV service brings live TV, thousands of hours of on-demand programming and the best apps and games to customers through a set-top box, as well as on-the-go through tablets and smartphones.
Virgin Mobile launched the world’s first virtual mobile network and offers fantastic value and innovative services with 4G connectivity. We are also one of the largest fixed-line home phone providers in the UK and Ireland.
Through Virgin Media Business we support entrepreneurs, businesses and the public sector, delivering the fastest widely available broadband speeds and tailor-made services.
Virgin Media is part of Liberty Global, the world’s largest international TV and broadband company. Liberty Global connects 22 million customers through operations in 11 countries across Europe subscribing to 46 million TV, broadband internet and telephony services. It also serves 7 million mobile subscribers and offers WiFi service through 12 million access points across its footprint.
Press contacts
Jamie Clarke, Virgin Media – 0333 000 2984, press@virginmedia.co.uk
Twitter: @VirginMediaCorp
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