A TELECOM and media giant says Braintree residents can now access broadband which is “up to 30 times faster" than the local average.

Virgin Media O2 has confirmed its full-fibre broadband is now available to more than 11,000 homes and businesses across the town.

Its Gigabit (Gbps) broadband service will now be available for the first time in Braintree after work to bring it to the area has been completed.

This means residents could enjoy speeds up to 2 gigabits per second, which is greater than the average broadband speed for the town of 60megabits per second, according to Ofcom’s 2022 Connected Nations Report.

Virgin Media O2 spokesman Julie Agnew said: “11,000 more homes in Braintree can now feel the benefit of Virgin Media’s services.

“The ultra reliable full fibre to the home broadband provides total peace of mind that whatever you’re doing online, you’ll never be slowed down by your service.”

The connection works have been carried out by Nexfibre, which is investing £4.5billion to deliver high-speed fibre-to-the-home connections to five million homes across the country by 2026.

Rajiv Datta, CEO at Nexfibre said: “We're proud to be able to facilitate access to future-proof, hyper-fast fibre to more than 11,000 premises in Braintree, thanks to our multi-million pound in investment.”