Parts of Cornwall could have superfast broadband access by the end of the year.
Vtesse Networks and Virgin Media have announced plans for a trial starting this winter which will provide connectivity of up to 50Mbps.
The first two areas to benefit from the trial will be Higher Pill in Saltash and Hatt, a community to the north west of the town.
The services will be delivered using leading VDSL2 technology based on “fibre to the cabinet” services supplied and managed by Vtesse. Additional support will be provided by members of the Babcock-led “NGN Kernow” consortium.
Jon James, executive director of broadband at Virgin Media said: “This is an important project for Virgin Media and demonstrates our ambition to extend our next generation services to areas outside our traditional cable TV footprint.
“As well as placing two rural communities at the vanguard of the digital revolution, the trials will provide much needed understanding of the technical and economic viability of delivering next generation access to areas that have traditionally thought to be commercially problematic.
Aidan Paul, CEO at Vtesse Networks, added: “We are very pleased to be running this trial with Virgin Media and NGN Kernow and we look forward to extending our coverage in Cornwall and elsewhere for the benefit of consumers, local businesses and content providers alike.
“Subject to the satisfactory completion of these trials and to a supportive regulatory policy, our analysis indicates that it could be feasible to roll-out similar capability to as many as 2 million further homes and small businesses in current ultra-fast ‘not-spots’ across the country.”
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