Virgin Media Community

[kerryw75]

Hi All

Virgin Media started to install cabinets and cable a month or 2 ago but seem to have stopped work midway down 1 street. Several cabinets have been fitted and cable has been laid across some streets but then one day the workmen filled in the holes, packed and and went.

There was a quite a few road closures listed on roadworks.org but they have all now passed without anything else happening.

Can anyone tell me what is happening and if they are going to resume the work anytime soon?

At the open evening the person I spoke to said it would be available late Autumn so I was holding off renewing my BT contract but its expired now so if nothing is going to happen I'll renew.

Thanks

[AlredyVCabledUp]

it could be something to do with this http://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/06/30/virgin_media_jobs_cut/ however Virgin have taken on so much debt to expand their network they have to make a return on the borrowed investment funds or else!

[Kath_F]

Hi kerryw75, 

Thanks for your post and welcome to the forums. It's really great having you on board with us in the Community. 

As much as we would love to be able to install everybody, sometimes it's just not possible. Other times we're able to go so far on an estate or street and then have to stop due to permit issues. 

The good news is if you register your interest via Cable My Street here: Cable My Street you'll get an update on when we may be ready to go live in your area. 

Get any neighbours who may also be interested to register on the same link and this will give you more of a chance of getting installed with our Project Lightning 🙂

Hope that helps. 

Thanks,

[kerryw75]

Thanks for the reply but unfortunately it seems you've misunderstood my message

I registered with cable my street a few years ago, I assume that's why I got a text message inviting me to the open evening.
At the open evening there was a map showing the entire village being cabled and the representative showing me around showed me my house, the routes the cables would take and the expected date the works would be completed.

The problem is that part way through doing the work the contractors packed up and went.
To make it a bit clearer:
Numerous grey cabinets have been installed around the village but no cables have been run to the cabinets.

Several roads were closed while cables or pipes for the cables where installed across the street but nothing else has happened with these, in most cases the tarmac has been left with the word temp or temporary sprayed on it.

There was a lot of other roads listed on roadworks.org as being closed for works by Virgin with dates after they packed up and none of these happened.

There are lots of markings painted on roads and footpaths where they planned to install cable and the junction boxes but nothing has been done.

Outside a few houses holes where dug to fit the junction boxes but these where filled in and nothing was fitted the cable wasn't even laid that far.

The footpath that they were in the middle of installing the cable has channels cut in the surface where they planned to dig it up to lay the cable but nothing else has been done.

As far as I can see looking at the works that have been done, even for the limited houses that do have the junction box fitted outside, cable has been laid back to the grey box but no further cable has been laid to connect it to anywhere else.

Are you able to contact anybody and find out why they stopped mid way through the work and if they are planning to finish it.

[AlredyVCabledUp]

Read through this thread and its links http://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Community-Natter/Cable-Outside-Front-Door-BUT-Virgin-ERROR-says-... it could give you some ideas about how to proceed. That’s if Virgins crushing £3Billion debt for expansion purposes doesn't get them moving first - just think of the interest payments for servicing such a debt - no wonder Virgin are busy making people redundant.

Think of it this way an intestinal parasite infests a mammalian host as it wants a stable living environment (similar to Homeostasis) – it lives within the host as happy as a clam multiplying taking more and more resources from the host until eventually the host dies killing the parasite at the same time – in the same way Virgin resist all change (Homeostasis instinct) until something near fatal happens (servicing £3 Billion expansion debt / and or threat of being subject to a hostile takeover in the stock market) then suddenly it becomes safer for Virgin to do something anything other than stand still – meaning Virgin go through phases of being receptive to new ideas (when Liberty Global took over as owner and demanded growth or else) like expansion and then it’s back to Homeostasis and peaceful slumber until another external disruptive force from technology or the market forces change on Virgin/Liberty Global and so it continues.......

You could also say that Virgin constantly advertising on TV/Print with network expansion are breaking the Advertising Standards Authority rules so Virgins adverts could then be blocked by the ASA as being untrue when you contrast the number of people who want a connection but are not being connected especially in areas that already have a Virgin Network presence – the Virgin Network expansion adverts are really just to reignite interest in a saturated market hoping people will see if they can get reconnected – Google around it for suprising results.

The other strange thing Virgin and BT do is constantly talk about FTTP not to be confused with FTTC – however neither of those two can show anyone in the wild connected via FTTP – Google it

[Kath_F]

Hi kerryw75, 

Thanks for coming back to us on this. 

Apologies if I mis-understood. Can you post back here with your Postcode please? I can check to see what's going on then 🙂

Thanks,

[kerryw75]

Hi Kath

Thanks for looking in to it for me

postcode is CH1 6AP

Kerry

[Kath_F · Accepted solution]

Thanks Kerry 🙂

OK so I can't see why the works stopped however I can see that we haven't abandoned plans so that is the good news. 

We will be returning to restart work however there are no solid dates at present. 

Once we know more we shall let you know.

Thanks,

[kerryw75]

OK Thanks for looking at it.

I guess not having any dates means it could be another 12 months until they come back, they originally expected to have the work completed late autumn so I was happy to wait around a month or two after my existing contract expired.

I guess I'll just go and renew with BT for another year and see how it is next year.

Thanks for your help

[AlredyVCabledUp]

If you feel that you have been mislead by false promises of Virgin Network expansion in any kind of advertising (even online including on Virgins own websites) you could lodge a complaint using the online form here

http://www.asa.org.uk/make-a-complaint.html

at the Advertising Standards Authority - they regularly bring Sky, BT and Virgin etc. back down to earth about their wild claims about many things including network speeds, expansion and coverage - Mobile phone operators too.

If everyone complains then the Advertising Standards Authority will ban the offending adverts - which might just get whatever promises were made in such adverts delivered upon.

What do you mean "renew" with BT - unless they were offering something seriously worthwhile why commit to staying with any telecoms provider after you are out of the initial contract period - or is there an angle I have missed?