Blackpool to get further ultrafast broadband boost

Virgin Media brings ultrafast broadband to around 3,000 more properties

Offering speeds more than 14 times faster than the local average

Virgin Media announces its ultrafast broadband and entertainment boost is now available to around 3,000 more homes and businesses in the Norbreck and Bispham areas of Blackpool.

Virgin Media has now opened up its ultrafast broadband network to more residents and businesses in Blackpool, offering speeds of up to 350Mbps. This is in addition to the 6,000 premises already passed across the town thanks to Virgin Media’s ultrafast broadband roll out. It transforms the quality of broadband in the area where the average (median) download speed was just 24.4Mbps*.

· Download a standard HD movie file (5GB) in just over two minutes, compared to almost 30 minutes on the average local connection;

· Download a 25GB console game in just over 10 minutes, compared to almost two and a half hours on the average local connection**

Paul Hutchinson, Regional Director at Virgin Media, said: “We are delighted that even more Blackpool residents can now benefit from the boost our amazingly fast broadband will give to their lives. Our ultrafast broadband services will allow them to do the things they need to do and love doing more quickly and more easily.”

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 those interested in Virgin Media’s fantastic services, they can go online now to check out our latest deals at https://www.virginmedia.com/

Ends

Notes to Editors

*The average (median) broadband speed in Blackpool is 24.4Mbps. Source: Ofcom, Connected Nations Report 2017, published 15 December 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