Virgin Media Ultrafast Broadband Trial Starts Today

A trial to deliver ultrafast broadband over existing electricity poles will begin in a rural village in Wales today.

Virgin Media and Surf Telecoms, a power distribution company, are partnering to trial ultrafast broadband solution that will be delivered over existing electricity poles. This will be the first time that this solution has been tested in the UK.

Broadband speeds of up to 50 Mb will be delivered to the Welsh village of Crumlin in Caephilly by the connection of Virgin Media’s fibre optic network to the infrastructure that delivers electricity to each house.

The fortunate villagers will also receive Virgin Media’s on demand TV services that can supply around 5,000 of television programming.

The trials are part of Virgin Media’s efforts to expand its network and identify ways of bringing next generation digital services to people who live in rural or harder to reach areas of the UK. This initiative could accelerate the deliver of high speed broadband services to remote rural communities that are too far from conventional telephone exchanges and are beyond the reach of fibre optic and high speed networks.

Jon James, executive director of broadband, Virgin Media, said: “We’re already bringing broadband speeds of up to 50Mb and, soon 100Mb, to over half of all UK homes and are pushing the boundaries to ensure that homes right across the UK benefit from ultrafast broadband. Working in partnership with companies like Surf Telecoms, we can more rapidly and efficiently expand the reach of fibre optic networks to towns, villages and communities right across the UK.”