Virgin goes aerial in attempt to bring broadband to the country

Plans to string fibre optic cables along telegraph poles to connect rural areas

Virgin Media is to take its fibre cables above ground for the first time in a move that could bring superfast broadband to one million homes in hard-to-reach rural areas.

Virgin's subterranean network of cables currently reaches 12.6 million homes across the UK. It announced yesterday that it was testing the wires on telegraph poles to extend the reach without digging up more roads.

The test is to be held in the rural community of Woolhampton in Berkshire. The village on the Bath road, known for the capture of the highwayman Captain Hawkes, could mark the next step in the development of the information superhighway in the UK.

Rupert Wood, principal analyst at Analysys Mason, said: "This is a small trial but it is significant as the vast bulk of the cost of rolling out fibre broadband is in digging up the roads and installing it."

The Government hopes to bring broadband to every home by 2012. Virgin and BT are looking to expand the next generation of digital services to those living outside the fibre network beyond the traditional means, which are too expensive. These include wireless and satellite broadband, and running cable through sewage and water pipes. Should this test prove successful, Virgin has identified more than one million homes that could receive superfast broadband via telegraph poles.

Jon James, the executive director of broadband at Virgin Media, said: "We're keen to bring superfast broadband to rural areas and we need to explore all avenues to make this feasible."

Fibre over poles is commonplace in countries including the US and the Netherlands. "There are aesthetic problems," Mr Wood said after seeing the deployment in Bucharest. "It can look a mess."

Virgin plans to put up its own telegraph poles for the test in Woolhampton. At the moment, it cannot carry out an overhead deployment because of wider planning regulations, but said the Government is considering a change to these guidelines.

Virgin said "using overhead poles as well as underground ducts could, in some cases, significantly improve the viability of delivering next generation digital services to rural communities".

Peter Kjeldsen, a research director at Gartner, said: "Fibre over poles is easier to install and faster to roll out but there are trade-offs. It is harder to maintain." Last month, Virgin revealed it would bring broadband speeds of 100Mb to its existing customers from the end of this year and is testing 200Mb in two sites. BT, which demonstrated its superfast broadband yesterday, said there were currently no plans to take its fibre above ground.

Superfast broadband has become a political tussle in the run-up to the general election. After its pledge for universal broadband, the Government made further noises about bringing in superfast broadband by 2017.

The Conservatives also laid out plans for superfast broadband as part of the technology manifesto they unveiled yesterday, saying they want to roll out 100Mb across most of the country.

Jeremy Hunt, the shadow Culture Secretary, had already outlined many of its policies, including calling on BT to open up its ducts to rivals to run their own fibre through. They also plan to use part of the digital switchover levy on the TV licence fee to fund the rural broadband roll-out as well as encourage private-sector investment.

Stephen Timms, the minister for Digital Britain, branded the broadband policies via his Twitter account as "hopeless. Minor regulatory tweak, already in hand, not the answer. Funding needed, & soon."