Neighbours get VM, yet I can't?

[ruddyrum]

Since my ISP has put up the prices of our broadband from January 2023, I have been looking at swapping providers. I was hoping to get a Gigabit connection from Virgin as one of my neighbours has spoken very highly of the service.

Despite the website telling me that I cannot get access to any Virgin Media services, I decided to call as I found it odd that I could not get any service when someone across the road from me is receiving a 1130Mbps internet connection.

I have made several calls now since January and feel like I am just being palmed off with excuses; "your address isn't in the system" or "need to register interest to get VM services in your area". At some stage I was promised an engineer to come and visit the property to assess the situation and see if an install would be feasible, but that was over 4 weeks ago and have heard nothing back since. As I am not a customer, these calls are not logged so I have to explain myself every time I call back!

I did want to make a formal request in writing to enquire about this, but there seems to be no email address or online form to complete and submit an enquiry, so thought I would try my luck here.

I have done some research and used the postcode check tool to see what other properties in my area can and cannot get Virgin Media Services. I was shocked and have uploaded a picture of my findings. Green area shows properties which can receive up to 1130Mbs and boxes in red cannot receive any VM services.

Why can VM not install a connection at my property when it would be possible for me to run an ethernet cable from a neighbours house to give me the same service?

Any assistance or info on who to contact would be much appreciated.

My Area

[jpeg1]

There can be a number of reasons why Virgin can't or won't install, some of them far from obvious. If you can wait for a staff member to pick this up, they might be able to arrange a visit to check out your location.

Beware of the price comparison, as Virginmedia is also about to apply a large price increase and there are fixed annual increases built into every new contract.

[nodrogd]

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@ruddyrum wrote:

.Why can VM not install a connection at my property when it would be possible for me to run an ethernet cable from a neighbours house to give me the same service?

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I'm not sure your neighbour would be happy with that. Ethernet only operates on the customer side of the hub, so he would be paying for your service as well as his own. The likelyhood is that there is private land between your house and the road. Either that or the length of the run to the house is not economically viable.

[Jonny-M]

More info needed - at a guess the little close you've highlighted was built after all the surrounding houses, and either it was built after the VM network was built, or it's a private road and the landowner either wasn't known to VM or they refused permission to install.

[ruddyrum]

The houses were built in 2010, we moved in during lockdown, so I have no idea when VM initially built the infrastructure for the other properties.

It is a private road, but the residents as a collective own that under a management company. I know it would be easy enough to supply to our close, but getting someone from Virgin to take ownership of my query and escalate / investigate accordingly seems impossible.

The comment about the ethernet cable was tongue in cheek. I'm hardly going to kick down my neighbours door and run a 30m long cable through their letter box! 

[Jonny-M]

How many properties are there in total? I think you'd struggle to meet the business case requirements since it needs civils completing but a member of VM staff will pick this up and then you'll know for sure.

[jpeg1]

• Virginmedia normally run a mile when the words "private road" are mentioned. If you really want them to take an interest you will need to be proactive and get a suitable letter from the management company inviting them in. 

Also if more than a few metres of cable laying is required you will need to get a sufficient number of residents to make firm requests for connections. They will not do it for just one customer.

And even then there may not be sufficient technical capacity on the local network for new connections.

But by all means give it a try. 

[ruddyrum]

A lot of this seems to be speculation as to what VM would or wouldn't do. As stated, the residents own the road and I am one of the directors of the management company. Therefore, deeds and paperwork etc shouldn't be a concern as long as someone from VM gets in touch to start the discussion. Like I said, all my requests for info seem to fall on deaf ears. I have even tried calling the expansion and wayleave teams but the number just rings without answer.

It seems 9 properties located on the North and South side of the road cannot get VM. However, Properties on the west side of the road, as highlighted in green, can get all Virgin Media services (upto 1130Mbps!) according to the online postcode checker! 

[jpeg1]

Not speculation I assure you, but years of experience watching similar cases. 

As you have already experienced for yourself, it is difficult to get Virginmedia interested in any development that will not show a quick return on capital expenditure.

A staff member will respond to your post in due course, and you must leave it to them. 

[nodrogd]

From looking at the provided map you will have an uphill battle to secure any service from the existing infrastructure.

95% of VMs current network is based on 1990s built Fibre Coaxial hybrid infrastructure. The original cable companies that put in this network installed it as cheaply as possible, hence there was no capacity inbuilt for expansion. HFC only provides a finite number of connections before other customers suffer issues, so the surrounding cabinets will already be allocated to only serve the number of properties the current ducting services.

To add infill, VM has to put in Full Fibre overbuild, so its not just a case of putting in one more cabinet for your road & installing the ducting. The exiting fibre infrastructure could be as much as 500m to 1km away from your location. Installing a feed from that cabinet, possibly with other ducting alterations in-between would push the budget into 6 figures for just a handful of potential connections.

VM are on an upgrade programme to put in Full Fibre between now & 2028, so in a few years time adding infill like that required in your road would become more viable. As it is at present, not so I'm afraid.