Cheltenham’s MP, Alex Chalk, has hailed Virgin Media’s new investment in Springbank's broadband network.
Virgin Media representatives visited Cheltenham in July to attend Mr Chalk's 'broadband summit’. Since then the town’s MP has lobbied the telecoms firms, submitting data to Virgin and BT on local ’not-spots’ and has pressed the case for further investment. Now, residents in Triscombe Way in Springbank, one of the areas highlighted by Mr Chalk, have been informed by Virgin Media that they will be making their services available in the local area. Previously residents had suffered from snail paced broadband speeds, as they missed out on successive stages of commercial providers’ respective rollout programmes.
This new development follows efforts by Cheltenham’s MP to help those residents living in what he has referred to as ‘e-poverty’. Following his broadband summit, Mr Chalk’s office has collected data from the areas across Cheltenham currently blighted by slow broadband, which he recently submitted to the commercial providers and Fastershire for their consideration.
Speaking following the Springbank news, Mr Chalk said ''I’m delighted that Virgin Media are investing in Springbank. It’s a part of town which has been experiencing snail paced broadband speeds for too long and this will make a huge difference to people’s lives. We need to keep up the momentum though. There are still far too many people in ‘e-poverty’ in our town, and I will keep banging the drum for more investment.’’
A spokesperson for Virgin Media said: "Access to fast, reliable broadband is an essential part of everyday life. It offers countless benefits to people and businesses while providing a boost to local economies. Virgin Media is continuing to invest in the UK's digital infrastructure by connecting more UK homes and businesses to ultrafast broadband based on levels of interest registered at virginmedia.com/cablemystreet."