Ultrafast broadband now available to around 640 premises
Offering broadband speeds up to 362Mbps
First resident connected and has helped revolutionise her family’s life
Virgin Media announces its ultrafast broadband and entertainment services are now available to around 640 homes and businesses across Chilbolton and Goodworth Clatford – the first villages in the Test and Dun Valleys area to get speeds of up to 362Mbps as part of an innovative community driven scheme.
This transforms the quality of broadband in the area where speeds were, in the past, slow and inconsistent leading to residents across 12 villages in the Test and Dun Valleys to pull together and convince Virgin Media to install its network.
With a 362Mbps connection, files, films and games become unbelievably quick to stream, download and upload:
- Download a standard HD movie file (5GB) in under two minutes
- Download a 25GB console game in under 10 minutes
Virgin Media went to visit Chilbolton to give its first customer the ‘VIP’ treatment and to find out how having their broadband speed boosted from their previous average of around 5Mbps to close to 200Mbps has helped changed their life.
Julie Connor, commenting on having Virgin Media broadband and TV services installed, said: “Our ability to use the internet has massively improved and there are now more activities for our children to do. Instead of it taking days to upload files, it now takes minutes. Working from home will be so much easier and we can now make full use of the office which we couldn’t previously with our old connection. The sports and entertainment service is fantastic and the service is much more reliable than what we received previously.”
Mrs Connor, like many other residents living in the Test and Dun Valleys, has had to endure years of slow broadband speeds and connectivity issues despite internet providers promising to improve matters. She said: “As we live in a rural area, we felt left behind by the technological advance happening in more urban areas and was frustrated by the lack of action from some internet providers. Virgin Media has really been on board with us from the very start and I really want to thank them for being so dedicated and approachable.”
Hugh Woolford, Regional Director at Virgin Media, said: “We are delighted that local residents and businesses in these villages can now start to benefit from the boost our ultrafast broadband will give them. They’re the first communities in the Test and Dun Valleys to experience our incredible service and we will continue to rollout our network to more villages in the area as soon as we can.”
Rt. Hon. Caroline Nokes, MP for Romsey and Southampton North, said:** “I am thrilled that ultrafast broadband is now becoming available to residents in the Test Valley. I know that Virgin Media and the local community have been working hand in hand to make this project possible and their efforts are paying off. Our community has been very supportive and I look forward to the rest of the villages in the Test and Dun Valleys being able to sign up to ultrafast service.”
Cate Bell, Chairman, West Tytherley and Frenchmoor Parish Council, said: “We are really pleased that Virgin Media’s network is now starting to appear across the Test and Dun Valley villages. Their build is the result of a huge community campaign, championed by several individuals across the area, and we are glad that villagers can now start to benefit from this a brilliant initiative.”
Cllr Phil North, Leader of Test Valley Borough Council, said: “Access to superfast broadband for Hampshire homes and businesses is an important contributor to economic prosperity. The work of the Test Valley community and Virgin Media is very welcome indeed, demonstrating what can be achieved by residents working collaboratively to find effective broadband solutions in ‘hard to reach’ areas.”
Over the past year Virgin Media has invested approximately a billion pounds in its network and this significant investment continues to bring real benefits to its customers. Under new rules introduced this year to bring greater transparency to broadband advertising and consumers, Virgin Media was the only major provider to see its advertised speeds increase.
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 Sport. 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 those interested in Virgin Media’s fantastic services, they can go online now to check out our latest deals > https://www.virginmedia.com/
For any questions about Virgin Media engineering works, residents can do the following:
E mail: ExpansionWorks@virginmedia.co.uk
Phone: 0333 000 5925 (option 1)
For further information, visit: www.virginmedia.com/lightning/network-expansion
Ends
Notes to Editors
** 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 21 million customers through operations in 10 countries across Europe subscribing to 45 million TV, broadband internet and telephony services. It also serves 6 million mobile subscribers and offers WiFi service through 12 million access points across its footprint.
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