Liberty Global and Virgin Media Bring Gigabit Speeds to Glasgow, Leeds and Bradford
August 04 2020 - 4:00AM
Business Wire
More than 12 million homes across Liberty Global’s footprint
now gigabit ready
Liberty Global plc (NASDAQ: LBTYA, LBTYB and LBTYK), one of the
world’s leading converged video, broadband and communications
companies, today announces the launch of gigabit broadband services
from Virgin Media to almost 1 million homes in Glasgow, Leeds and
Bradford.
Following the addition of the cities and their surrounding areas
to Liberty Global’s gigabit capable footprint, a total of more than
12 million homes across Europe are now gigabit ready. This rises to
13.2 million homes with the inclusion of the gigabit footprint of
VodafoneZiggo, its Joint Venture in the Netherlands. With a gigabit
connection, ultra-high definition 4K films and TV programmes, very
large files and videos can be downloaded almost instantaneously,
even with multiple devices using a connection at the same time.
Virgin Media’s gigabit network now covers one in four Virgin
Media premises. Thanks to continued investment, Virgin Media now
boasts the largest gigabit network in the UK, surpassing all other
networks. The speed increases in Glasgow, Leeds and Bradford are
part of Virgin Media’s plan to bring gigabit speeds to more than 15
million homes across its entire network by the end of 2021,
significantly ahead of the UK government’s target of delivering
gigabit-capable broadband nationwide by 2025.
The cities are the latest in a growing list of that can now
experience speeds 17 times faster than the UK average. Virgin Media
has already connected cities including Southampton, Manchester,
Birmingham, Coventry, Reading Liverpool and Edinburgh to its
gigabit network, all delivered through Virgin Media’s newest and
most powerful router, the Hub 4.
Liberty Global is set to launch gigabit speed services in even
more cities in the coming months as it continues to boost superfast
internet access across Europe. Elsewhere amongst Liberty Global’s
operating companies, Telenet and UPC Switzerland connected
customers throughout their entire networks last year, while UPC
Poland has so far connected more than 60 cities to its gigabit
service.
Mike Fries, CEO, Liberty Global, comments: “Within the past 10
years we have gone from offering speeds of 100Mbps to making
gigabit ready connections available to more than 12 million homes
across our European footprint. We’re continuing to invest in the
fastest broadband network in the UK and our recently announced
merger with O2 creates an even more exciting opportunity to
accelerate growth in the future.”
Gigabit speeds revolutionise the digital experience by making
the next generation of home entertainment technology a reality.
Applications of gigabit speeds include cloud-based gaming, 8K
streaming, remote health telemonitoring and advanced telepresence,
which could enable consumers to go ‘virtual reality shopping’ or
watch live broadcasts of holographic sports events.
By providing ultra-high capacity, reliable, secure, resilient
and low latency networks, gigabit speed broadband services will
unlock significant economic growth. According to research from
international management consulting firm, Arthur D. Little, the
innovation spurred by the widespread availability of Gigabit speeds
are estimated to deliver between €250-660 billion of economic value
per year in Europe by 2025.
ABOUT LIBERTY GLOBAL
Liberty Global (NASDAQ: LBTYA, LBTYB and LBTYK) is one of the
world’s leading converged video, broadband and communications
companies, with operations in six European countries under the
consumer brands Virgin Media, Telenet and UPC. We invest in the
infrastructure and digital platforms that empower our customers to
make the most of the digital revolution. Our substantial scale and
commitment to innovation enable us to develop market-leading
products delivered through next-generation networks that connect 11
million customers subscribing to 25 million TV, broadband internet
and telephony services. We also serve 6 million mobile subscribers
and offer WiFi service through millions of access points across our
footprint.
In addition, Liberty Global owns 50% of VodafoneZiggo, a joint
venture in the Netherlands with 4 million customers subscribing to
10 million fixed-line and 5 million mobile services, as well as
significant investments in ITV, All3Media, ITI Neovision,
LionsGate, the Formula E racing series and several regional sports
networks.
For more information, please visit www.libertyglobal.com.
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