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Virgin Media has reached agreement with the Home Builders Federation (HBF) in a scheme to build homes with the infrastructure to receive ultra fast broadband and TV services.
Despite many years of good intentions many new build projects, such as Cambourne in Cambridgeshire, find themselves without even the most basic of broadband service.
To try and change this Virgin has launched a dedicated new portal including essential technical guidance and a simple new site request form. As part of the agreement, Virgin Media will carrying out all initial new site assessments free of charge.
Virgin Media will also offer exclusive discounts for new build homeowners moving into properties under the scheme. The scheme is part of Virgin Media’s £3bn Project Lightning network expansion that will see its network reach 17 million UK premises by 2019.
Stewart Baseley, Executive Chairman of the HBF, said: “Housing delivery is growing exponentially as we seek to tackle the country’s housing crisis meaning more and more households will be living in new homes. Competition between network builders will help to ensure more homeowners can enjoy all of the benefits of the digital age, helping to make new build even more attractive to homebuyers”.
The scheme is part of Virgin’s Pronect Lightning. A £3 billion development that is increasing the footprint of the Liberty Global-owned cablenet to 19 million properties by 2017.
Paul Buttery, Chief Operating Officer at Virgin Media, said: “By partnering with Virgin Media, developers can build 21st Century homes, equipped with the most modern broadband infrastructure delivering the fastest speeds. With our network growing at a faster pace than ever, the more demand we get from developers, the more we can do to support them.”
As part of the agreement, Virgin Media will provide developers with all the equipment to connect homes to its network and offer a rebate scheme to cover any costs of the work. The company will also offer a dedicated manager for each site.
