Virgin Media To Connect 360,000 Properties in Scotland To Its Cable Network

Virgin Media plans to connect 360,000 premises in Scotland by the end of 2019, building on the one million homes and business it already covers in the country.

The network expansion is part of its £3 billion ‘Project Lightning’ scheme, which will see four million properties across the UK added to the company’s infrastructure.

The first areas to benefit in Scotland are Ayrshire, where 55,000 premises will be added, and Fife, where 70,000 will be connected, and work is already underway. This means a third of the new connections will be made before the end of 2017.

Virgin Media Scotland

“I welcome the news that Virgin Media will be rolling out ultrafast broadband to over 300,000 premises in Scotland alongside launching the first Scottish Tech City in Glasgow,” said Regus Ewing, MSP and cabinet secretary for the rural economy and connectivity.

“The Scottish Government has put digital connectivity at the heart of its agenda, recognising that broadband is vital to the sustainability of our economy and communities.

“That is why we have made the commitment to ensure that 100 percent of premises across Scotland will have access to superfast broadband by 2021. Commercial investment will play a huge part in delivering that commitment and I am delighted to welcome the substantial investment that Virgin Media are making in Scotland.”

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Also set to be added are a number of villages included in Virgin Media’s ‘Supercharging local communities’ scheme.

The majority of premises passed in the expansion will be in major towns and cities also served by BT Openreach, but the imitative lets residents and businesses ‘vote’ to be connected by Virgin Media. Voting was suspended in April when ten communities were announced before resuming.

The villages in Scotland are Kirknewton (West Lothian), Kilmacolm,  Houston, Crosslee, Craigends and Bridge of Weir (Renfrewshire).

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