{"id":268908,"date":"2025-07-17T09:04:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T09:04:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/268908\/"},"modified":"2025-07-17T09:04:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T09:04:12","slug":"virgin-media-o2-expands-digital-inclusion-with-free-internet-for-1000-newcastle-residents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/268908\/","title":{"rendered":"Virgin Media O2 expands digital inclusion with free internet for 1,000 Newcastle residents"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Virgin Media O2 has delivered free internet access to over 1,000 residents across 30 Newcastle Housing Plus schemes through a strategic partnership with tech charity Jangala and Newcastle City Council.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-121756\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Virgin-Media-O2-Delivers-Free-Internet.jpg\" alt=\"Virgin Media O2 Delivers Free Internet\" width=\"940\" height=\"627\"  \/>Virgin Media O2 Delivers Free Internet<\/p>\n<p>The broadband initiative, aligned with the council\u2019s \u2018Get Online Newcastle\u2019 programme, aims to bridge the digital divide by connecting residents in assisted housing to vital online services and digital learning resources.<\/p>\n<p>Under this programme, Virgin Media O2 engineers installed Jangala GetBoxes\u2014portable Wi-Fi devices powered by O2 SIMs\u2014in communal spaces. These efforts were carried out as part of the company\u2019s Take FIVE volunteering scheme, which allows employees five days of paid leave annually to contribute to community work.<\/p>\n<p>The strategy focuses on digital inclusion as a pathway to social empowerment. By enabling internet access, the initiative helps residents stay in touch with loved ones, access healthcare and government services, apply for jobs, and participate in council-run digital skills training. It also supports local community groups and food banks operating out of these schemes.<\/p>\n<p>Consumer benefits extend beyond free Wi-Fi. Residents were also informed about Virgin Media O2\u2019s Essential Services, offering affordable broadband and mobile plans to people receiving government benefits. These plans are contract-flexible and include:<\/p>\n<p>Essential Broadband: 15Mbps for \u00a312.50\/month<\/p>\n<p>Essential Broadband Plus: 54Mbps for \u00a320\/month<\/p>\n<p>O2 Essentials Mobile Plan: 10GB data with unlimited calls and texts for \u00a310\/month<\/p>\n<p>By addressing digital access as a basic need, Virgin Media O2 and its partners are not only providing connectivity, but also promoting mental well-being, social interaction, and economic participation for vulnerable communities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Virgin Media O2 has delivered free internet access to over 1,000 residents across 30 Newcastle Housing Plus schemes&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":268909,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3161],"tags":[643,3082,53,16,15,15855],"class_list":{"0":"post-268908","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-internet","8":"tag-broadband","9":"tag-internet","10":"tag-technology","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom","13":"tag-virgin-media-o2"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114867776020232882","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268908\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}