As in many markets worldwide, the UK is seeing a massive acceleration in data centre capacity to support the boom in AI, neoclouds and hyperscaler demand. Designating data centres as part of critical national infrastructure in late 2024, the country’s government forecast that capacity would grow between two and four times by 2030, to as much as 6.3GW.

The sheer scale of this predicted AI-propelled rise in just half a decade indicates the need for fundamental changes in the way digital infrastructure is delivered and provisioned, enabling faster upgrades to higher capacities and lower latencies in a more unpredictable market.

“These trends mean you’re going to need quicker, higher-capacity networks to be able to deliver traffic faster to and from data centres,” says Ben Archer, head of business development and network infrastructure sales at Virgin Media Business Wholesale. “Data centre builds are also chasing power availability, meaning that nationwide connectivity is becoming critical, rather than just connectivity between key metros.”

Lighting the fuse
In recent years, Virgin Media Business Wholesale has been addressing these changing needs by reshaping how high-capacity services are built, priced and delivered in Project Spark, aimed at enhancing its core network capabilities and driving digital services (see ‘Welcome to Virgin Media Business Wholesale’ below).

The company launched the multimillion-pound initiative in 2020 at a time of major change for its parent company, which in the same year agreed a merger with O2 that concluded in mid-2021. “We started to overhaul our infrastructure, future-proofing it to keep up with standards,” says Archer. “This has resulted in a modernised network with upgraded optical equipment and metro infrastructure.”

Those results are clearly paying off now, as shown in Virgin Media Business Wholesale’s partnership with nLighten, a provider of sustainable carrier-neutral edge data centres across Western Europe designed for modern, latency-sensitive workloads including cloud services, real-time applications and AI. Having been founded as recently as 2021, nLighten is a good example of the new wave of providers both in the UK and worldwide rolling out data centres closer to the customer.

Virgin Media Business Wholesale’s deployment of infrastructure with the company began in mid-2025 and is on course for completion in the first half of this year, with rollouts across data centres in locations including Birmingham, Bristol, Hoddesdon, Liverpool, Milton Keynes, Nottingham and Swindon. The busiest areas – Bristol, Milton Keynes and Swindon – were prioritised first.

Flexible upgrades
Unlike in many networks of the past, capacity in Virgin Media Business Wholesale’s upgraded infrastructure is being pre-built and pre-provisioned to allow fast and flexible increases when needed, also reflecting the challenges in predicting the speed at which AI will make upgrades necessary. Each nLighten site is being made 400G-capable, with 10G and 100G services available at more competitive price points.

“We’re making sure we have a product suite that’s completely ready for whatever our customers might want or need,” says Archer. “We also have a roadmap that will take us to higher bandwidths, modernising our network for 400G readiness and preparing for future terabit services. That makes it easier for customers to make a decision to partner with us now rather than put it off.”

The benefits have already been shown in significant measurable results in the case of nLighten, even well under a year from the rollout starting. Delivery times have sped up by around 30% compared with those that nLighten experienced before, while 100G services are available at price points comparable to 10G just a couple of years ago.

The network also provides predictable, low-latency performance, greater resilience than available before, and the ability to solve issues faster through the two companies working closely together. For customers looking to switch data centre provider, all this makes the change easier.

“Our experience with Virgin Media Business Wholesale has been consistently strong,” says Justin Nesbitt, UK managing director for nLighten. “The team there brings a rare mix of dependable delivery, clear communication and genuine care for the end customer. Together, we’re creating something that makes life easier for every organisation moving into data centres.”

Data protection
Such a partnership is also increasingly valuable as data sovereignty becomes a critical priority. The need for strong, secure, in-country infrastructure is rising across telecoms, data centre and content providers, as well as enterprises and public sector organisations.

As a UK-only provider, Virgin Media Business Wholesale is ideally positioned to deliver that local, secure network footprint for an international player like nLighten. “Having that in-country network is hugely valuable for partners, providing a clear stamp of trust and credibility,” says Archer. “nLighten serves a significant base of clients, including government agencies and local councils, where data sovereignty requirements are particularly stringent.”

The collaboration delivers additional commercial advantages too. It enables nLighten to offer Virgin Media Business Wholesale services directly, while opening up new lead-generation opportunities through access to the latter’s established partner ecosystem.

“It’s not just about connecting nLighten’s data centres,” says Archer. “It’s also about connecting enterprises to the platform itself. That creates a compelling value proposition and demonstrates how Virgin Media Business Wholesale can successfully deliver complex strategic infrastructure projects at scale.”

Welcome to Virgin Media Business Wholesale

Virgin Media Business Wholesale is a major UK connectivity provider that serves telecoms carriers, data centre operators, hyperscalers, critical national infrastructure providers, altnets and resellers.

The company operates the country’s largest available dark fibre network, owning more than 330 points of presence and 160 data centres. Its infrastructure is geared to provide high availability, low latency and carrier-grade resilience, with dense and rapidly growing metro coverage, as well as a strong presence in otherwise underserved areas.

Through its expertise and the experience of its team, Virgin Media Business Wholesale enables multiple opportunities for partners, from interconnecting data centres and cloud regions to delivering multi-site Ethernet projects. In doing this, it offers dedicated 24/7 support, predictable SLAs and fast response times through a people-first approach to business. The company invests billions in its network each year to further boost delivery speeds and shorten customers’ route to revenues.

In recent years, Virgin Media Business Wholesale has been overhauling how high-capacity services are built, priced and delivered in Project Spark. It has also secured more funding to continue upgrading its network and services, setting itself and customers up for the next phase of the digital transformation and the new requirements created by the rapidly accelerating demands of the AI era.

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