First homes connected to Fujitsu fibre broadband network

[muppetman11]

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tech/new...d-network.html

[MrIca]

Surprised no one has replied to this. Fujitsu are linking some streets in Greasby, Wirral to their network (Halton Crescent is the first). I'm from the area and there's something about the estate involved in this Fujitsu trial that I find interesting and I wonder if someone can shed some light on.

There are Virgin Media street cabinets around the housing estate (a large one and a few small ones), manhole covers (NYNEX)... the works. But you cannot order cable and not one house has it installed. What's going on? Did they never turn it on there or something?

This to me would explain why those particular streets in Greasby were chosen by Virgin and Fujitsu for this trial.

[Peter_]

Probably down to cost at the time but as the infrastructure is still there then a joint venture between Virgin Media, Fujitsu and Cisco can only be a good thing especially as it mentions connecting a further 5 million homes.

[Digital Fanatic]

Originally Posted by MrIca

Surprised no one has replied to this. Fujitsu are linking some streets in Greasby, Wirral to their network (Halton Crescent is the first). I'm from the area and there's something about the estate involved in this Fujitsu trial that I find interesting and I wonder if someone can shed some light on.

There are Virgin Media street cabinets around the housing estate (a large one and a few small ones), manhole covers (NYNEX)... the works. But you cannot order cable and not one house has it installed. What's going on? Did they never turn it on there or something?

This to me would explain why those particular streets in Greasby were chosen by Virgin and Fujitsu for this trial.

NYNEX may have run out of money to cable that area at the time.

[MrIca]

Originally Posted by Digital Fanatic

NYNEX may have run out of money to cable that area at the time.

Does that seem the most likely? You'd think then that it wouldn't be too expensive for Virgin to add it to the network without Fujitsu? Surely it would pay back quite quickly.

[Peter_]

Originally Posted by MrIca

Does that seem the most likely? You'd think then that it wouldn't be too expensive for Virgin to add it to the network without Fujitsu? Surely it would pay back quite quickly.

It would cost millions and it is much more cost effective to do it as a joint venture.

[Tim Deegan]

Don't forget that Virgin ran out of money, which is why they stopped laying cable to many areas. So I suppose the best option for them is a joint venture.

[weesteev]

Originally Posted by Tim Deegan

Don't forget that Virgin ran out of money, which is why they stopped laying cable to many areas. So I suppose the best option for them is a joint venture.

Pardon?

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by Tim Deegan

Don't forget that Virgin ran out of money, which is why they stopped laying cable to many areas. So I suppose the best option for them is a joint venture.

Virgin have only just started laying cables, Virgin did not have anything to do with the origin build of the cable network, that was down to the early cable companys like Nynex, Telewest, Ntl, and others and it was they who ran out of money

---------- Post added at 11:45 ---------- Previous post was at 11:44 ----------

Originally Posted by weesteev

Pardon?

I had to look twice as well

[Tim Deegan]

Originally Posted by Sirius

Virgin have only just started laying cables, Virgin did not have anything to do with the origin build of the cable network, that was down to the early cable companys like Nynex, Telewest, Ntl, and others and it was they who ran out of money

---------- Post added at 11:45 ---------- Previous post was at 11:44 ----------



I had to look twice as well

It was Virgin under various previous names. You know exactly what I mean.

[Peter_]

Originally Posted by Tim Deegan

It was Virgin under various previous names. You know exactly what I mean.

Not really as the were over 100 cable companies that NTL and Telewest bought out before merging into Virgin Media and making one giant cable company.

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by Tim Deegan

It was Virgin under various previous names. You know exactly what I mean.

No i don't.


1. Virginmedia as a company have never been just Virgin

2. Virginmedia as a company was formed in 2006 and prior to that had never existed therefore they have NEVER before that date installed cabling or lost any money.

Virgin Media was not formed in 2006. A pre-existing company simply changed its name. Companies House will confirm that that company records for the entity that calls itself Virgin Media go back far earlier than 2006. It was, and will ever be, a re-branding exercise. It uses the Virgin brand under licence. Underneath it is a company formed from the merger of NTL and Telewest.

Companies do not often cease to exist - you will find, if you were to look hard enough, that most if not all of the legacy companies still exist as subsidiaries. Furthermore the company we now call Virgin Media is legally liable for the historical activities of those subsidiaries.

Virgin - or rather, NTL and Telewest, many of whose senior staff are still around AFAIK - did run out of money. NTL in particular was in Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection in the USA not so many years ago. They ran out of money because they were liable for the massive debts of the telcos they bought up.

[MrIca]

Originally Posted by Chris

NTL in particular was in Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection in the USA not so many years ago. They ran out of money because they were liable for the massive debts of the telcos they bought up.

I always thought they ran out of money because they moved too quickly in the UK, trying to cable up huge areas too soon.

I do think that Virgin Media as we know them now maybe don't investigate areas where they could easily gain new customers. How many other areas are there like Greasby, where the cable infrastructure exists but isn't linked up to the Virgin Media backhaul (that must terminate nearby)?

Here's a link to Google Maps for those interested:http://www.google.co.uk/maps?q=halto...6,,1,20.1&z=16

A bit of both, I think. NTL/Cabletel lashed out a lot of money on it's own cable but it also lashed out a lot on buying companies in other areas, and those companies were also heavily in debt because of their own cabling works.