“Virgin has had a high speed Fibre Optic network in much of Swansea for far, far longer than BT. In fact only recently has BT made the move to Fibre, and even now they don't offer the same speeds. Compounded by the speeds quoted by BT that proved to be wholly inaccurate due to the pathetic nature of their dated copper networks.

Why should VM open up their network anyway? They built it, they own it. The BT network was built by the taxpayer years ago.

The issue with BT winning these contracts is that it still sits very close to the government. Should BT struggle to make the rural services financially viable it only has to cry and the government will shovel money in its pockets to fill the cracks. Virgin would not get any such support. Therefore it makes no sense for them to compete. Fujitsu is having a go, but it can't compete with the behemoth BT.

It's just not financially feasible to run Fibre to every house in the, and there are far better alternatives available. But at the end of the day, you don't live in a distant community to be immersed in the 21st century, do you?”

“PhilEvs
When Thatcher opened the market in the UK for regional bids to supply cable television, BT was deliberately excluded.
CableTel got the contract for this area and got a cushy deal whereby they could dig up roads/pavements at short notice and the Council would have to do the resurfacing.
CableTel was bought by NTL.
Virgin bought part of NTL's network.
Effort by Virgin = Almost zero.”

“Fujitsu, Virrgin Media & Talk Talk wanted to build an open network but virtually all the government funding for providing broadband to rural areas went to BT”

“Cable Television does not equal Fibre Optic broadband.

And if it was simply a matter of running cable through pre-existing routes then BT would have made the change to FO far sooner. Instead they're at least 3 years behind VM.”

“BobEvans and PhilEvs.

I know Fujistu very, very well... I work for them. I can tell you now Virgin are not bidding. TalkTalk are looking to partner with those who do bid.

BT wanted to go optical in the very late 1970's and it was their plan in the first place, but the Conservatives cried "monopolies!!!!" so they put bids to tender for any company bar BT. Ironically not long afterwards she helped create a satalite TV monopoly, you gotta help your friends out afterall, don't Mrs Thatcher?

And Fujitsu is not trying to compete with BT, they are trying to fill the blanks that BT have said they cannot. Both Fujitsu and BT are happy with this, there are places on the fringes of rural and urban where their bids are crossing but that is about it.

Also, when posting big profts Virgin made no effort to providing cable and a very quick look at http://tinyurl.com/8zkpx shows that Virgin's presence is.... tiny. Only two exchanges are Virgin cabled. TWO! 2! You were saying Phil? You were saying what?”

“Virgin Media has a dreadful reputation. It's nothing for customers to be go without television or broadband for days, weeks even. NTL claim to be the fastest broadband in the UK, they never mention the crippling limits they put on usage and the speed cuts during busy periods.”

“@ProjectVRD - So BT were planning to do optical cabling 15 years before it was even commercially viable for anyone else? Likely.

Also, what was I supposed to gain from that websites homepage? However, I checked the map and every exchange in Swansea is VM cabled and the one in Neath.

http://tinyurl.com/39b7wak

Just type Swansea into the search box.

What were you saying again?”

“The very first exchange I go to check...

Pontardawe... no cable services.

Then I look at the others:

Clydach... no cable services.
Ystlafera... no cable services.
Pontardulais... no cable services.
Penclawdd... no cable services.
Bishopston... no cable services.
Penmaen... no cable services.
Gower... no cable services.
Llangennith... no cable services.

(Pssst. Don't tell anyone, but that is just over half of all Swansea area exchanges. Let's keep this quiet between ourselves, okay? Sssshhhh... mum's the word)

So... you wanna know what I was saying?! I don't need to answer that because you already know what I was saying then, this is what I am saying now though...

You... fail.”

“Oh right, so you checked "half of all Swansea Area exchanges" which cover which % of the Swansea population?

It's a business, not a charity.”

“And yet the government are funding the rollout, so what exactly is Virgin fighting it for? They have no interest setting up business in these area's so why do they think they have the right to wade in on the subject?

If Virgin got it's way, there would be no fast internet across the UK other than what they want to serve. Perhaps now you will see my point? Somehow, I think you will come up with yet another insane line of thinking just to try and save face... luckily for you though, you don't have to show it online.”