Virgin Media laying new broadband cable in Bradley Stoke

Cable company Virgin Media is laying new fibre optic broadband cable in Bradley Stoke but it seems that homeowners are unlikely to benefit from the work.

Contractors have been digging trenches to take a spur off the Virgin Media network from a point on Bradley Stoke Way close to the pedestrian crossing south of the Savages Wood Roundabout.

The new cable branch, which The Journal understands will bring high speed internet access to Bradley Stoke Community School, has been taken across Bradley Stoke Way and along a footpath into Champs Sur Marne.

Spray markings on the pavements in Champs Sur Marne suggest that the cable will soon follow a route around to the school entrance in Fiddlers Wood Lane.

Signs on barriers around the workings state that “Virgin Media is really sorry if we cause any inconvenience while we bring our exciting new services to this area”.

The route of the cable passes a number of homes in Champs Sur Marne but an unofficial Virgin Media source suggested that these properties are in fact unlikely to be offered the high speed broadband and television services that it will provide.

Residents in Bradley Stoke’s broadband ‘notspots’ and ‘slowspots’ have been urging Virgin Media to install  fibre optic cable in their streets, which are too far from BT exchanges to receive a decent speed over copper cable.

A campaign led by the Bradley Stoke Examiner urging Virgin Media to complete its network in the town has so far attracted 226 email votes but the company says it wants 1,500 people to email before it will even “consider” doing the work.

If Virgin Media does not extend its network, residents will have to hope that BT installs Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) technology in the town, which should provide at least the 2Mb/sec Universal Service Commitment promised by the Digital Britain report.

Further Information:

• Broadband in Bradley Stoke (The Journal)
• Bradley Stoke Cable My Street Campaign (The Examiner)