Cleckheaton to get ultrafast broadband boost

Virgin Media bringing ultrafast broadband to up to 10,000 properties

Offering speeds almost 15 times faster than the local average


Virgin Media announces up to 10,000 homes and businesses in Cleckheaton 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 in Cleckheaton, Kirklees, bringing speeds of up to 350Mbps for residents and small businesses. This will help transform the quality of broadband in the area where the average download speed is currently just 21.9Mbps.

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 more than two hours and 40 minutes on the average local connection.

Hugh Woolford, Regional Director at Virgin Media, said: “Families and small businesses across Cleckheaton will soon be benefiting from our brilliant ultrafast broadband service. Giving them greater speeds will enable 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 further information, visit: www.virginmedia.com/lightning/network-expansion

Ends


Notes to Editors


*The average (median) broadband speed in the Kirklees is 21.9Mbps. Source: Ofcom, Connected Nations Report 2017, published December 15 2017.

** Download speeds calculated using www.download-time.com

For any questions about Virgin Media engineering works, residents can do the following:

E mail: ExpansionWorks@virginmedia.co.uk

Phone: 0333 000 5925

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 over 22 million customers through operations in 12 countries across Europe subscribing to more than 46 million TV, broadband internet and telephony services. It also serves over 6 million mobile subscribers and offers WiFi service through 10 million access points across its footprint.

Press contacts

Jamie Clarke, Virgin Media – 0333 000 2984, press@virginmedia.co.uk

Twitter: @VirginMediaCorp