MONObox™ Footway 2: future-proofing Northern Ireland’s network infrastructure

With the announcement of Virgin Media’s £3bn investment to bring ultra-fast connectivity to 17million homes by 2019, the network provider continues to expand its footprint across the UK with the aspirations of future-proofing the country’s network infrastructure.

Having examined Virgin Media’s ‘Project Lightning’ requirements, Cubis specified the MONObox™ Footway 2 access chamber suitable for footway traffic with corresponding B125 Concrete Infill frame and cover.

The MONObox™ chamber designed and manufactured by Cubis offers Virgin Media a high-quality solution that is both strong and robust yet retains a lightweight profile, ideal for fast installation in public walkways where access is limited.

Cubis’ Concrete Infill cover with galvanised steel frame provides the sole approved footway cover used by Virgin Media. Built to withstand up to 12.5 tonnes vertical loading, its slip resistant finish, security options and custom badging offers great flexibility in both size and design; deeming it the ideal chamber cover for FTTP installations.

The product installation carried out at the Rathmullan Drive site to support the roll-out of Virgin Media’s fibre network to 15,000 homes in the Newtownards area, saw the introduction of one 730 x 460 x 465mm deep MONObox™ Footway 2 chamber delivered complete with concrete cover. The pre-formed single-piece chamber delivered to site offered easy maneuverability with no requirement for additional heavy duty machinery and was easily aligned with the existing subscriber ducts situated along the narrow trenching.

Each chamber and cover installation took less than a 15 minutes to complete, significantly faster than traditional alternative methods. This included onsite installation of duct entries benching over existing services, cover installation and backfill.