12 Dec Brentwood MP welcomes broadband investment
The first phase of work to bring full fibre broadband to Brentwood has been completed, meaning residents can now access Virgin Media services for the first time, offering speeds up to 20 times faster* than the local average. These hyperfast connections, offering top speeds of 1,130Mbps, are perfect for busy households working remotely, streaming Ultra HD TV shows and films, video calling friends and family, and playing games online.
The project to upgrade local broadband network is continuing so more homes and businesses in Brentwood will benefit from faster internet speeds in the future.
Virgin Media’s services are now available locally following a multimillion-pound investment from nexfibre to build new full fibre connections in the area. The ultrafast network has been built as part of a £4.5bn investment to deliver high speed fibre to the home (FTTH) connections to 5 million homes across the UK by 2026. Virgin Media is using this next-generation network to deliver its broadband and TV Stream services to homes and businesses in the area.
The investment has been welcomed by local MP, Alex Burghart, on a recent site visit where he met representatives from Virgin Media O2.
Alex Burghart, MP for Brentwood & Ongar, said: “I welcome the latest investment in Brentwood that will ensure my constituents have access to some of the fastest broadband speeds in the UK. It was great to meet with representatives from Virgin Media O2 to discuss the progress they have made so far, as well as the plans they have to make gigabit broadband available to even more residents in the area.”
Julie Agnew, Managing Director of Fixed Network Expansion at Virgin Media O2 said: “More than 19,000 homes and businesses in Brentwood can now feel the benefit of Virgin Media’s services – with packages that include everything from next generation gigabit broadband to easy-to-use TV streaming and entertainment services.
“These ultrareliable full fibre to the home broadband connections come with speeds up to 20 times faster than local average – providing local people with total peace of mind that whatever they’re doing online, their connection won’t slow them down.”
Rajiv Datta, CEO at nexfibre said: “We’re proud to be able to facilitate access to full fibre broadband to more than 19,000 homes in Brentwood, thanks to our multi-million pound investment. We continue on our mission to build and expand our network in suburban and semi-rural areas, play our part in helping to close the digital divide and boost the UK economy.”
Virgin Media O2 is leading Britain’s gigabit charge with speeds of 1,000Mbps+ available across its entire network. The company invests around £2bn a year in its networks and services and is also in the process of upgrading its entire fixed network to full fibre to the home (FTTH) technology over the coming years.
In addition to its ultrafast broadband network, Virgin Media O2’s mobile network covers 99% of the nation’s population with 4G, with the business also rolling out 5G services to bring the latest mobile connectivity to more parts of the country. O2 is the only mobile network operator not to have reintroduced roaming fees in Europe and customers can save week-in week-out through Priority – its reward scheme which gives exclusive access to offers, prize draws, competitions, and presale tickets.
Customers of both Virgin Media and O2 can supercharge their services and reap extra rewards through Volt. Alongside double mobile data, roaming in 75 countries, new and existing customers who take a Virgin Media broadband service and an eligible O2 Pay Monthly plan will receive a broadband speed boost to the next tier available – meaning customers on a 500Mbps Virgin Media package could be boosted to Gig1 at no extra charge.
nexfibre is a joint venture between InfraVia Capital Partners, Liberty Global and Telefónica and is financed with £4.5 billion of equity and debt investment. It will initially roll out fibre to 5 million homes not currently served by Virgin Media O2’s network by 2026, with the opportunity to expand to an additional 2 million homes. Virgin Media O2 is the anchor tenant of this joint venture and provides build services to nexfibre. Taken together, nexfibre and Virgin Media O2 will cover up to 23 million premises or around 80% of the UK later this decade.
