Virgin Media has announced the next 30 communities that will see an upgrade to their broadband and entertainment services.
The areas – from Oxfordshire to Staffordshire – have been selected by public vote. Over 5,000 votes were cast between 29 February and 30 June via the Cable My Street website.
They’ll benefit from fibre-based broadband delivered directly to their premises. It’s part of the Virgin Media’s ‘Supercharging Local Communities’ initiative – part of Project Lightening – with homes slated to be connected by Spring 2017.
Paul Buttery, Chief Operating Officer at Virgin Media, said: “By bringing fibre to the parishes and smaller communities, it shows that ultrafast broadband and top-notch TV isn’t just for big cities. We have been overwhelmed by the response from the local communities and as a result we have decided to speed up our network expansion plans, to connect the next 30 villages by spring 2017. But we won’t stop there – we urge more people to come forward and tell us where we should expand to next.”
Residential homes will gain speeds of 200 Mbps. For business this is 300 Mbps.
The next 30 communities are confirmed as follows, in order of the votes cast:
Windlesham (Surrey)
Sutton Courtenay (Oxfordshire)
Balsall Common (West Midlands)
Chineham & Old Basing (Hampshire)
Oakley (Hampshire)
Farnham Common (Buckinghamshire)
Wargrave (Berkshire)
Lickey, Catshill, Marlbrook & Barnt Green (Worcestershire)
Cullingworth (West Yorkshire)
Shrivenham (Oxfordshire)
Baddesley Ensor (Warwickshire)
Harden (West Yorkshire)
Broughton Astley (Leicestershire)
Grimethorpe (South Yorkshire)
Wigginton & Haxby (North Yorkshire)
Copmanthorpe (North Yorkshire)
Grassmoor (Derbyshire)
Pontyclun (Rhondda)
Darfield (South Yorkshire)
Talke & Talke Pits (Staffordshire)
Cudworth (South Yorkshire)
Duffield (Derbyshire)
Shafton (South Yorkshire)
Denham (Buckinghamshire)
Llanharry (Rhondda)
Marcham (Oxfordshire)
North Leigh (Oxfordshire)
Repton (Derbyshire)
North Cornelly (Bridgend)
Watchfield (Oxfordshire)
Source: Virgin Media
