Plans to implement a new superfast cable broadband and TV system have been put on hold by Virgin Media amidst concerns that service provider currently has next to no infrastructure in the area.
The decision has been described as disappointing by the Northumberland County Council.
The county-wide initiative known as iNorthumberland had its sights set on making “superfast” (24Mpbs+) as well a few “ultrafast” (100Mpbs+) broadband available to most of the county by the end of the year. Nearly all of this has already been achieved due the projects partnership with BT Openreach.
It is still expected that Virgin Media will attempt to move into the area as part of the impressive sounding Project Lightning network expansion. The aim of the new £3bn initiative is to add around 4 million new premises to its portfolio by the end of 2020, which will be split between their Hybrid Fibre Coax (HFC) and FTTP (RFoG) based EuroDOCSIS network.
The new infrastructure has been implemented by Virgin Media in nearby areas, notably North Tyneside, Newcastle and Gateshead. The foray into Northumbria may be halted completely as the Northumberland Gazette conceded in a recent article. Peter Jackson, who is the County Council Leader for Northumberland County was reported as saying:
“We are very disappointed that Virgin Media have made the decision to halt plans to extend their broadband coverage to include Northumberland. As a council, we have supported Virgin Media at every opportunity and have specifically flagged up approved planning applications for new housing and commercial developments while also promoting the ‘Cable My Street’ website in flyers, newsletters and via our iNorthumberland superfast broadband website.”.
According to Jackson, Virgin had blamed rising business costs for their decision to cease work in certain areas. It was not specified exactly what the rising costs are for Virgin Media, but this could be worrying for other counties who may fear that a similar shelving of plans could affect them as well. It’s not all doom and gloom for counties around the country however, as it has generally been the case the Virgin tend to offer new rollouts on the fringe of any pre-existing networks they may have. So there is a chance that the foray into a completely new area such as Northumberland did not make sense economically but may not affect other areas with closer proximity to a Virgin network.
