Fibre Broadband Boost for Scarborough

Openreach and Virgin Media are both hailing fibre broadband improvements in Scarborough.

Openreach says it's engineers have started work to build a new ultrafast broadband network for Scarborough – giving residents and businesses access to some of the fastest, most reliable broadband anywhere in Europe.

Virgin Media says it's gigabit broadband now available to 17,000 homes in Scarborough for first time.

Openreach says that it's Full Fibre broadband upgrade will let thousands of local people and businesses connect multiple devices at gigabit-capable speeds and help businesses to trade online and compete for decades to come.

The new technology is more reliable, more resilient and future-proof; with fewer faults; predictable, consistent speeds and enough capacity to easily meet growing data demands.

Matthew Lovegrove, Openreach Partnership Manager for Yorkshire and the Humber, said:

“Work is underway to bring ultrafast broadband to Scarborough and we want to let local people know what to expect.

“This is a major infrastructure upgrade, so  you will see more of our engineers, vans and equipment out and about but we're working hard to keep disruption to a minimum.

“Wherever possible, we’ll use our existing network of ducts and poles to avoid roadworks, new street furniture and disturbance. But there may be places where we need to install new poles or underground ducts because it’s the only way to make sure as many premises as possible are included in the upgrade.”

Openreach says that once up and running Scarborough residents will be able to enjoy a host of online services such as seamless streaming, and smooth online gaming experiences. While businesses can operate with certainty that their broadband will support all the day-to-day, business critical tasks such as video calls, banking and customer interaction via social media platforms.

Local people can visit openreach.co.uk/ultrafastfullfibre to register for updates and, as the build progresses, check their addresses to see when services are available from their chosen provider.

Openreach say:

"The build will be ongoing for a good few months and is likely to go into next year. We make premises ‘live’ as we go though so it’s worth people checking their address now and again or registering on the website. Once registered we’ll let them know by email when they can place an order with their chosen service provider. The engineers do try to pop a leaflet through each house that goes live to let them know as well."

Virgin Media says that more than 17,000 homes and businesses in Scarborough can now sign-up to it's services including Gig1 broadband which offers top speeds of 1,130Mbps.

Virgin Media says it's services are now available locally after work to bring full fibre connections to the area has been completed. The network has been built on behalf of nexfibre, which is investing £4.5bn to deliver high speed fibre to the home (FTTH) connections to 5 million homes across the UK by 2026. Virgin Media O2 is using this next-generation network to deliver its broadband and TV Stream services to homes and businesses in the area.

Julie Agnew, Managing Director of Fixed Network Expansion at Virgin Media O2 said:

“17,000 more people in Scarborough can now feel the benefit of Virgin Media’s services - with packages that include everything from next generation gigabit broadband to easy-to-use TV streaming and entertainment services.

“These ultrareliable full fibre to the home broadband connections come with speeds – up to 24 times faster than local average – providing total peace of mind that whatever you’re doing online, you’ll never be slowed down by your service.”

Rajiv Datta, CEO at nexfibre said:

"nexfibre's multi-million pound investment in Scarborough will enable thousands of households and businesses to access the benefits of full fibre broadband, including being able to participate in the local economy and connect with the community. It marks a significant step on our journey to connect 5 million premises by 2026.”

Virgin Media O2 is leading Britain’s gigabit charge with speeds of 1,000Mbps+ available across its entire network. The company invests around £2bn a year in its networks and services and is also in the process of upgrading its entire fixed network to full fibre to the home (FTTH) technology over the coming years.