Manchester gets first Virgin superfast connectivity

MANCHESTER is the first city to benefit from Virgin Media’s ‘Project Lightning’, a major expansion of ultrafast internet connectivity for four million users over the next five years.

Up to 150,000 properties in the city will be connected with more premises in neighbouring postal towns also prioritised according to demand from consumers and businesses.

Work is starting this week to connect the first 20,000 Manchester homes and businesses to broadband speeds of 152Mb, at least twice as fast as the fastest speeds available from its rivals.

Virgin says its the single largest investment in the UK’s broadband digital infrastructure for more than a decade.

To mark the luanch, Virgin is celebrating with a world-first ‘High Speed Selfie’ photo booth experience in Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester.

The two-day public experience is the first of its kind and gives visitors the chance to be photographed in the face of g-force speeds.

Former Girls Aloud member Sarah Harding trialled the results in a London studio last week.

Digital economy Minister Ed Vaizey, said:  “This is wonderful news for Manchester residents and businesses. We are in the midst of a remarkable transformation of the UK’s digital landscape, and Virgin Media’s £3bn investment will play an important role in ensuring our cities are fully equipped to meet the challenges of the digital age in which we live.”
 
Tom Mockridge, Virgin Media chief executive, said: “Our message is simple:  help us to cable your street. If you want to switch to broadband speeds twice as fast as you can get today, simply register with Virgin Media to ‘cablemystreet’.”