5,000 Suffolk homes to get broadband boost as Openreach agrees landmark deal
Engineers are getting ready to build the new network, with fibre cables being brought more than 30 kilometres from local exchanges.
More Suffolk communities are on the verge of getting ultrafast, ultra-reliable full fibre broadband, after Openreach started work building a new fibre connection in and around Leiston.
Engineers are getting ready to build the new network, with fibre cables being brought more than 30 kilometres from local exchanges.
The East Suffolk town, along with nearby villages, is set to benefit during 2024 and the huge engineering build is possible after Openreach agreed a contract to provide connectivity to Sizewell C – planned for a site next to energy company EDF’s Sizewell B.
The work builds on a £34 million investment already made by Openreach in Suffolk, with full fibre already connecting 115,000 homes and businesses to faster and more reliable broadband.
Tom Read from Openreach’s Chief Engineer team, said: “Our teams are ready to carry out the hard work required to build miles and miles of full fibre underground. It’s a huge task, with dozens of our engineers involved installing new infrastructure, clearing existing blockages and negotiating the more difficult sections along the route. Many of the roads involved are single-track routes, important to local traffic, so we’ll be working with great care.
“The build is being carried out by Openreach’s Chief Engineer team and is anticipated to take up to 12 months to complete.”
To mark the agreement of the scheme, representatives from Sizewell C and Suffolk County Council visited Openreach’s high-tech Four Acre site, near Adastral Park.
Here, technologies of the present and the future are tested, and new engineering techniques developed. There’s even a drone training school, as Openreach uses drones more and more to carry fibre cables across rivers and inhospitable terrain.
During the trip, visitors were able to see how Openreach stress-tests new cables, how different forms of equipment are used to make full fibre available, and to look at some of the latest kit, which is already delivering ultrafast speeds in different parts of the UK.
A spokesperson for Sizewell C said: “We are delighted that Sizewell C is enabling more upgraded services for local communities, from improving transport networks to increasing green spaces and now faster broadband in thousands of homes.”
Openreach has now passed 11m premises with our full fibre infrastructure. This means we are well on the way to our ambitious target of 25m premises by the end of 2026.
The company works closely with large scale commercial build projects to provide fibre network. Sizewell is one of the largest commercial projects we have seen recently in the Suffolk area.
The exact communities to benefit are still to be finally confirmed but are expected to be in and around the Leiston area, and in surrounding villages.
Openreach already plays an important role in Suffolk and the wider East of England with more than 3,500 of our people living and working there.
