Broadband ISP Virgin Media UK (VMO2) has confirmed that they intend to continue to expand their gigabit-capable fixed line connectivity – via Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) technology – to “tens of thousands more premises” across Northern Ireland over the coming years.
At present, VMO2’s existing Project Lightning deployment has already covered a total of 15.75m UK homes and their current goal is to reach 16 million by the end of 2022. Some 14.3m of this is via their older Hybrid Fibre Coax (HFC) network, with the rest using full fibre (FTTP) on Radio Frequency over Glass (RFoG) technology.
However, aside from upgrading that HFC to FTTP (XGS-PON) by 2028 (Project Mustang), the operator also plans to deploy full fibre broadband to an additional 7 million UK premises – via a new Joint Venture (JV) – in new greenfield areas by 2027 (here). The same company may also bid on the Government’s Project Gigabit contracts. Access to all this will be offered at wholesale for rival ISPs to harness.
One of the first indications of this may have just come from N.Ireland, where VMO2’s existing civil engineering contractor – EJC Contracts – has just signed a new “multi-year” deployment partnership that will see them working to extend the operator’s network to “tens of thousands more premises.”
Rob Evans, MD of VMO2’s Fixed Network Expansion, said:
“We are very happy to continue our relationship with EJC Contracts, who will play a vital role in expanding our broadband network across Northern Ireland. Virgin Media O2 is deploying network connectivity that will support businesses, customers and communities, shoring up these services for future generations.”
The operator’s network currently reaches over 44% of homes and businesses in N.Ireland (equivalent to somewhere around 380,000 premises), although in recent years rival builds by Openreach and Fibrus have put them on the back foot, which is something they must tackle.
We should point out that adding tens of thousands of premises won’t enable them to match Openreach’s full fibre reach (82%+ – according to TBB), but then EJC aren’t the only contractor they work with and others may be making similar preparations.