Virgin Media continuing to boost Scotland connectivity

• Digital connectivity stays at the top of Scotland’s agenda as Virgin Media hosts digital workshop

• Virgin Media has connected more than 220,000 premises in Scotland and invested over £150 million
• Scotland will soon benefit from Virgin Media’s hyperfast gigabit broadband

Virgin Media’s continues its rollout of ultrafast broadband in Scotland with gigabit connectivity coming soon.

The company recently hosted a digital connectivity workshop to discuss key policy issues, agree a strategy for continuing successful collaboration and outline its future expansion plans.

Scottish Government, Ofcom Scotland, Transport Scotland, the Wheatley Group, and the Road Works Commissioner attended the workshop alongside key representatives from South Lanarkshire, Glasgow City, North Lanarkshire, North Ayrshire, East Ayrshire, Angus and West Lothian Councils.

The bodies reaffirmed their commitment to work together to keep digital connectivity at the top of Scotland’s political agenda.

Virgin Media’s Project Lightning programme has now connected more than 220,000 premises across Scotland to ultrafast broadband speeds since 2016 and has invested more than £150 million.

Virgin Media has begun the rollout of next-generation gigabit broadband to cover its entire network by the end of 2021.

Minister for Connectivity, Paul Wheelhouse MSP, delivered a headline speech to an audience including representatives from Scottish Local Authorities, Ofcom, Transport Scotland, and the Office of the Road Works Commissioner. He welcomed the contribution that Virgin Media was making to the achievement of the Scottish Government’s policy objectives for broadband. 

Items also discussed during the event included piloting new wayleave approaches which would make it easier for Virgin Media to connect more premises to its network; potential planning policy changes to ensure gigabit-ready connectivity is built into new housing developments; the changing role of the Road Works Commissioner under the Transport Act; and the sharing of best practice on road works which would help minimise disruption caused to local residents.

Colin Brown, Virgin Media’s Build Director for Scotland, said: “For most of us the internet is a staple of modern-day life, so what we’re doing here – providing good quality and ultrafast connectivity – is extremely important for so many Scottish people.”  

Connectivity in Scotland

Virgin Media has already connected more than one million premises in Scotland to the UK’s fastest widely available network.

New research has revealed how widespread access to internet speeds of at least 1Gbps will lead to transformative changes in the way people interact, socialise, work and care for their health.  

The research, commissioned by Virgin Media’s parent company Liberty Global and carried out by Oxera, found that UK workers spend 358 hours community per year. Gigabit broadband enables applications such as holographic conferencing and augmented reality presence, meaning Scottish professionals will be able collaborate without having to travel and therefore make a huge impact on working habits.

When Virgin Media brings gigabit connections to Scotland, residents will also be able to take advantage of emerging consumer technologies such as cloud gaming and virtual reality entertainment as well as 8K video streaming across the home.


ENDS


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 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, one of the world’s leading converged video, broadband and communications companies. Liberty Global connects 11 million customers through operations in six countries across Europe subscribing to 25 million TV, broadband internet and telephony services. It also serves 6 million mobile subscribers.