Virgin Media rolls out rural business broadband to Yorkshire

Virgin Media and network provider LN Communications have announced they will be rolling out business fibre-optic broadband to rural Yorkshire in a deal worth more than 350,000.

The upgrade will cover 12,000sqkm giving customers access to Virgin Media Business' high-speed fibre-optic broadband and Wi-Fi services and will affect five million people across the county.

The area will cover eight sites by the end of April 2015, including Castle Howard, Darlington, Barlby, Darley, Kettleworth, Bradley, Northallerton and Stokesley.

"Our partnership with Virgin Media Business gives us a connectivity boost that enables us to provide superfast broadband in areas that have historically been difficult to reach," said Simon Hayhurst, managing director at LN communications.

The fibre-optic broadband will offer both businesses and consumers consistent coverage, better connectivity and its high speed means customers will have the ability to use data-intense services they were previous unable to take advantage of.

With the scalable solution businesses in particular will no longer be hindered by bandwidth issues, making it perfect for those using data-intensive services.

Mario Di Mascio, executive director of sales at Virgin Media Business, added: "This partnership with LN Communications brings the UK one step closer to its goal to provide 95 per cent of the population with high-speed connectivity by 2017. The internet is a gateway to the global economy and we're glad to open it up for the people and businesses in Yorkshire as digital technology is a key driver of growth for the UK economy."

The government's plans to ensure 90 per cent of the UK is covered by high-speed broadband (over 24Mbps) by the end of 2015 and 95 per cent by 2017 is currently behind schedule according to the National Audit Office. The programme is predicted to complete its rollout 22 months later than planned with only nine out of 44 local projects expected to reach their target of providing 90 per cent superfast coverage by May 2015.

Last week, rural broadband rival BT came under attack for not revealing sufficient information about the broadband supplier's fibre rollout plans.