Virgin Media is set to create 6,000 jobs under plans to invest £3 billion in expanding its broadband network to more homes and businesses.
The company, owned by US firm Liberty Global, has described the five-year plan as the single biggest investment in broadband digital infrastructure in the UK for more than a decade.
It will extend its fibre network to around four million additional premises, taking the number of homes and business to which it can offer services to nearly 17 million by 2020.
The expansion is expected to create 6,000 jobs in the UK at Virgin Media and its construction partners. It will also increase its apprenticeships to 1,000 over the next five years.
The company said its network expansion will be prioritised according to demand from households and companies, with a focus on areas closest to Virgin Media’s existing network.
Virgin said it was able to offer broadband speeds of up to 152Mb, which is twice as fast as the best speeds available from BT, TalkTalk and Sky.
Data usage on its network is growing at a rate of around 60% a year which, if this trend continues, will be 10,000% higher in 10 years.
Prime Minister David Cameron backed the plans, which he said were helping to build “a superfast nation backed by world-class infrastructure”.
He added: “Together with the Government’s rollout of superfast broadband, which has now reached more than two million UK homes and businesses, this additional private investment will create more opportunities for people and businesses, further boosting our digital economy and helping secure a brighter future for Britain.”
Virgin Media’s Project Lightning is the latest battle cry of a market that is now full of so-called ‘quad-play’ providers.
Rivals BT, Sky and TalkTalk have added mobile services to their existing offers of home phone, broadband and TV services to compete with the likes of Virgin on four fronts.
As a result, Virgin Media, along with BT, is accelerating its super-fast broadband roll-out to fight off the competition.
Quad-play packages now mean consumers can get their entire home internet and TV services covered, as well as a mobile contract for a smartphone or data-enabled tablet.
Virgin Media’s announcement emphasises how key an area this has become.