Virgin Media appoints fibre infrastructure build-out partners
Details
Joseph O'Halloran
| 04 March 2020

As it continues its aggressive plan to upgrade its UK cable network Virgin Media has reformed its partnership model to provide a one-stop-shop for the planning, expansion and maintenance of its next-generation gigabit network across the UK.

The company has awarded five-year contracts worth £500 million to six national partners to manage the delivery and maintenance of its gigabit-capable network.
Since the middle of 2019 Virgin has invested in and expanded its fibre-rich network to more parts of the UK through its Project Lightning programme and upgrades its entire footprint to gigabit speeds by the end of 2021. This is designed to see next-generation connectivity delivered to more than 15 million UK homes in less than 24 months at a time when the Government has called for nationwide gigabit connectivity by 2025.

The changes in the build-out structure are designed to ensure that all partners are aligned with Virgin Media’s focus on increased productivity, efficiency and quality of its network roll-out and comes as the cableco brings more than 700 customer-facing installation and engineers back in-house to further improve customer service and experience.

The new structure will be implemented from April 2020 with the six national partners delivering a variety of civil engineering tasks across nine key regions in the UK over the next five years. The new transparent model is designed to provide more integrated relationships with partners and deliver a host of benefits for both parties. All visits to homes and businesses will now be carried out by a Virgin Media employed engineer. Previously some in-home visits were carried out by contracted partners.

Virgin Media has already passed more than two million new premises through Project Lightning and these six partners will continue to build to homes and businesses, including new developments and apartment blocks, as well as exploring innovative ways to accelerate expansion such as narrow trenching and the use of ducts owned by BT Openreach which is the UK’s official national broadband infrastructure provider. Partners will be responsible for network assurance as well as cabinet maintenance and emergency restoration services.

Commenting on the changes, Rob Evans, MD network expansion at Virgin Media, said: “These changes are great news for our customers, great news for partners and ultimately fantastic news for the UK as we really focus on building out our gigabit network to more locations. This new regional model gives our partners the certainty, scale and transparency they need and provides Virgin Media with the teams equipped to deliver high-quality build efficiently and effectively with the support of local authorities and communities.”