Vtesse News
Next generation internet and digital TV services come to Cornwall for the first time.
Vtesse Networks and Virgin Media have today announced plans for an ultra-fast broadband trial in Cornwall. The trials will provide connectivity of up to 50Mbps and be used to deliver Virgin Media’s range of “next generation” broadband and digital TV services to two rural communities well beyond the reach of the company’s existing fibre optic cable network. The trials will begin during winter 2009.
The first two areas to benefit from the trial will be Higher Pill in Saltash and Hatt, a community to the north west of the town.The trial brings together the UK’s leading provider of private optical fibre networks and the market leader in next generation digital services. The services will be delivered using cutting edge VDSL2 technology based on “fibre to the cabinet” services supplied and managed by Vtesse Networks. Additional support will be provided by members of the Babcock-led “NGN Kernow” consortium.
Jon James, executive director of broadband at Virgin Media said, “This is an important project for Virgin Media and demonstrates our ambition to extend our next generation services to areas outside our traditional cable TV footprint. As well as placing two rural communities at the vanguard of the digital revolution, the trials will provide much needed understanding of the technical and economic viability of delivering next generation access to areas that have traditionally thought to be commercially problematic”.
“We are very pleased to be running this trial with Virgin Media and NGN Kernow and we look forward to extending our coverage in Cornwall and elsewhere for the benefit of consumers, local businesses and content providers alike,” said Aidan Paul, CEO, Vtesse Networks. “Subject to the satisfactory completion of these trials and to a supportive regulatory policy, our analysis indicates that it could be feasible to roll-out similar capability to as many as 2 million further homes and small businesses in current ultra-fast ‘not-spots’ across the country.”
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For more information on the Cornwall trial, please email cornwall@vtesse.com telling us about your interest.
Notes to editors:
About Virgin Media
With almost 10 million customers, Virgin Media is the UK's first quad-play provider of broadband, TV, phone and mobile.The company is one of the largest residential broadband providers in the UK, using a unique fibre optic cable network to deliver next generation ultrafast internet access of up to 50Mb to just over half of all homes. Combined with a high speed ADSL service and mobile broadband products, Virgin Media is able to offer broadband internet access to virtually the entire country.
For more information, go to www.virginmedia.com.
About NGN Kernow
The “NGN Kernow” Consortium is an alliance of leading telecoms and infrastructure businesses formed with to create a telecommunications infrastructure that will help make Cornwall one of Europe’s leading places to do business. If selected, the Consortium will support regional initiatives designed to create wealth, increase employment and stimulate economic growth. The Consortium is led by Babcock International Group PLC and members include Vtesse Networks, Motorola, Surf Telecoms, Digital Peninsula Networks and South West Communications Group.
About Babcock
Babcock is a FTSE 250 company and one of the UK’s leading engineering support services organisations. For more information, go to www.babcock.co.uk
About Vtesse Networks
Vtesse Networks engage directly with clients, leading integrators and operators to deliver specialist, high performance optical networking services to a broad range of vertical markets. The company is privately funded, debt free and consistently profitable.
Noted for the last three years in the Sunday Times Tech Track 100 as being amongst the Top 100 fastest growing privately owned UK tech firms, Vtesse’s clients include some of the largest and most demanding private and public organisations in the world.
For more information, go to www.vtesse.com