Virgin Media secures deal to connect 2,700 homes in Manchester

Virgin Media has secured a land access agreement, known as a wayleave, with Northwards Housing and Manchester City Council that will mean 2,700 homes get access to ultrafast broadband connectivity.

Work is already underway to connect homes in the north of Manchester which will see residents benefit from the UK’s fastest widely available network with average top speeds of 516Mbps.

This will help transform the quality of broadband in the area, bringing speeds of more than 13 times faster than the local average of 38.3Mbps*.

Virgin Media will work closely with Northwards Housing – a not-for-profit organisation that manages City Council homes across the north of Manchester – and Manchester City Council to ensure disruption is kept to a minimum.

The wayleave agreement gives Virgin Media the access and permission that is vital to completing the required work to install its gigabit capable network.

Manchester City Council has also promised a faster turnaround of future Wayleave requests submitted by Virgin Media.

Virgin Media’s need for wayleave access

In 2017 the Government made changes to the Electronic Communications Code to make it easier for telecommunications operators to secure wayleave access to private land and property.

Virgin Media put the new code to the test after encountering issues with Durham County Council when trying to expand its network in the area. It went on to settle the case but Virgin Media believes the process of acquiring wayleave access with local authorities could still be made simpler.

Paul Hutchinson, Regional Director for North West England at Virgin Media, said: “We are delighted to have secured this agreement which will make it much easier for us to rollout our ultrafast network to more homes, more quickly. Work is already underway and residents will soon be enjoying the benefits of our ultrafast broadband and entertainment.”

Virgin Media’s network expansion in Manchester

Virgin Media has extended its network to more than 94,000 premises across Greater Manchester’s ten boroughs since 2015. More than 25,000 of this figure comprises of homes and businesses in the Manchester City Council area. This brings Virgin Media’s total presence across Greater Manchester to more than 714,000 premises.

Residents and businesses in Hurst, Hyde, Gorton, Littleborough, Bury, Cowlishaw and Didsbury are just some of the areas that have been connected to Virgin Media’s ultrafast network in recent years.