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Virgin Media has announced plans to extend its Project Lightning program to cover an additional 36,000 premises in Scotland by 2019.
Project Lightning is a £3 billion investment by Virgin Media to expand its 300Mbps broadband and television network across the UK. The program aims to connect an extra four million premises, bringing Virgin Media’s total coverage to around 17 million premises—roughly 60–65% of the UK population.
Martin McFadyen, Virgin Media’s Director for Scotland, said: “We are pleased to expand our network to bring faster broadband, improved connectivity and high-quality TV to more premises across Scotland. Our goal is to give more people in Scotland the broadband boost they deserve. We encourage local councils and landlords to cooperate with us so this expansion can proceed as quickly as possible.”
Work in Scotland has already begun, with initial activity in Falkirk and Ayrshire. The first stage will connect around 70,000 premises in Dunfermline, Dalgety Bay, Inverkeithing, Rosyth and throughout Fife. The next phase will target approximately 55,000 premises in Kilmarnock, Ayr, Prestwick and Irvine.
Fergus Ewing MSP, the Scottish Government’s Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy and Connectivity, welcomed the private investment: “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. The Scottish Government has placed digital connectivity at the heart of its agenda, recognising that broadband is vital to the sustainability of our economy and our communities. That is why we have committed to ensuring 100% 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 is making in Scotland.”
Across the rest of the UK, Project Lightning continues to progress. For example, in Cambridgeshire the rollout is set to reach about 19,000 additional premises in areas such as Wimblington, March, Doddington and Chatteris, with completion expected by spring 2017.
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