Virgin Media connect 9,000 Chelmsford homes

Chelmsford, Essex, is now benefitting from further investment by Nexfibre to bring Virgin Media broadband services to more residents.

An additional 9,000 homes can now access full fibre to the home broadband and TV services with Virgin Media, with download speeds up to 2Gb per second.

While many properties already had Virgin Media cable broadband, Nexfibre has filled in homes in Writtle, Broomfield, Boreham, Great Baddow, and Melbourne.

Credit: Sharaf Maksumov/Shutterstock.com

Virgin Media in Chelmsford

Virgin Media has already connected around 37,500 homes in Chelmsford to their cable broadband service, which offers download speeds up to 1.13Gbps with Gig1.

However, the latest investment by Nexfibre has added a further 9,000 homes to their network, with those newly connected residents now able to access full fibre broadband with Virgin Media up to 2Gbps.

Newly connected homes include properties in Writtle, Broomfield, and Boreham, as well as southern roads of Melbourne, and northern roads in Great Baddow.

Virgin Media (red) / Nexfibre (blue) coverage in Chelmsford, Essex, as of November 2024. Source: Thinkbroadband

Virgin Media say Chelmsford residents can now sign up to broadband up to 26 times faster than the local average of 76.6Mbps. Gig2 broadband offers average download speeds of 2Gb per second, while customers can also opt for an upload speed boost for symmetrical speeds across all plans.

Residents of Chelmsford can sign up to any of Virgin Media's broadband deals, including their new Black Friday offer with the first 3 months free on many plans.

Options include M125 Fibre Broadband from just £25 per month, while the Bigger Bundle with M350 Fibre Broadband and Mega TV is priced at £39.99 per month with the first 3 months free for those who sign up before 8th December 2024.

Julie Agnew, Managing Director of Fixed Network Expansion at Virgin Media O2 said, "9,000 more homes in Chelmsford can now feel the benefit of Virgin Media's services - with packages that include everything from next generation multigigabit broadband to easy-to-use TV streaming and entertainment services.

"These ultrareliable full fibre to the home broadband connections come with speeds - up to 26 times faster than local average - providing total peace of mind that whatever you're doing online, you'll never be slowed down by your service."

Full fibre broadband in Chelmsford

Nexfibre, a joint venture between the parent companies of Virgin Media and O2, is a wholesale network working to fill in gaps in Virgin Media's existing network with newer full fibre technology.

The full fibre cables being laid use XGS-PON technology, which means the network already has the capability of providing symmetrical speeds up to 10Gb per second, future proofing connections for years to come.

The network plans to invest a total of £4.5 billion to roll out full fibre broadband to a further 5 million homes by 2026, increasing Virgin Media's total footprint to 23 million.

While most homes in Chelmsford with existing Virgin Media coverage will be served by cable technology, using DOCSIS 3.1, which delivers up to 1.13Gbps on average, the provider is also planning to upgrade these to XGS-PON full fibre by the end of 2028.

In the area, Nexfibre have also added surrounding towns including Braintree, Witham, Brentwood, and parts of Billericay, to Virgin Media's coverage.

Yet, aside from Writtle and Broomfield in Chelmsford, many of these properties are also already now served by Openreach FTTP, as well as Lit Fibre (now CityFibre) in Chelmsford, meaning residents are likely to have the choice between at least two, if not three, full fibre networks.

Openreach FTTP (blue) / Lit Fibre (purple) coverage in Chelmsford, Essex, as of November 2024. Source: Thinkbroadband

Rajiv Datta, CEO at nexfibre said, "nexfibre's multi-million pound investment in Chelmsford will enable thousands of households to access the benefits of full fibre broadband, including being able to participate in the local economy and connect with the community. It marks a significant step on our journey to connect 5 million premises by 2026.".