British cableco Virgin Media has named ten communities, chosen by local residents and businesses, where it will roll out fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) technology. In a press release confirming the plans, the operator revealed that the locations were selected as part of its ‘Supercharging Local Communities’ initiative, which was launched earlier this year and run across 18 UK counties, with the public called on to vote for their community to be one of the first to benefit from Virgin Media’s plans to start deploying FTTP.
The locations selected for rollout are: Kirknewton (West Lothian); Houston, Crosslee, Craigends and Brookfield (Renfrewshire); Bridge of Weir (Renfrewshire); Ratby (Leicestershire); Wilsden (West Yorkshire); Kilmacolm (Inverclyde); Stoke Poges (Buckinghamshire); Lightwater (Surrey); Hartley Wintney and Phoenix Green (Hampshire); and Oakley (Dorset).
As previously reported by CommsUpdate, in April 2016 Virgin Media outlined plans to connect at least a quarter of the four million homes and businesses being added to its network under its ‘Project Lightning’ expansion programme with FTTP. Meanwhile, the company has previously said it aims to pass a total of 17 million premises with its network by 2019, claiming its plans represent the ‘single largest investment in the UK’s broadband infrastructure in more than a decade’.