Virgin sues council for ‘broadband blockade’ in landmark case

Virgin Media has launched landmark legal action against Durham County Council, accusing it of hampering efforts to deliver ultra-fast broadband to thousands of homes. The company claims the council has set up a “broadband blockade” by charging “hefty” fees for laying fibre-optic cables along grass verges.

In response, Durham council said it has started charging after receiving “a significant number” of complaints from residents about disruption caused by Virgin, including drives blocked and properties damaged. It said it has already taken the “unusual step” of serving the company with an improvement notice.

The case is the first test of Ofcom’s Electronic Communications Code, set up last December to make it easier and cheaper for companies to install cables and phone masts on public and private land.

Virgin Media wants the court to force the council into granting access to the land. The company’s boss, Tom Mockridge, claimed the council was “holding this fibre rollout to ransom”, adding: “Durham has no basis for imposing any kind of a land levy in these circumstances and its attitude runs counter to that we have faced from more forward-thinking councils”.

He said Virgin faces obstacles from councils across the UK, blaming “haggling over land access” for slowing down the rollout of broadband, and deterring investment.

The ISP aims to offer 16,000 Durham properties speeds of up to 350Mbps, 13 times faster than the local average currently available via BT Openreach’s network. Nationwide, Virgin hopes to connect four million homes by the end of next year (check if it’s available in your area at www.snipca.com/28197).

But Stuart Timmiss, Head of Planning at Durham Council, said its priority is to deliver fast broadband to “all households”, not just areas that Virgin deems to be “commercially viable”.