South,
15
August
2022
|
15:13
Europe/Amsterdam

Broadband boost for Hastings and Rye with £13m infrastructure investment from Openreach

Full speed ahead for ultrafast Full Fibre broadband in Hastings and Rye as local MP meets engineers building new broadband network in Hastings

Sally-Ann Hart MP meets Openreach engineers in Hastings

Hastings and Rye MP, Sally-Ann Hart met engineers working in Hastings to learn about the new infrastructure being built by Openreach in the town to deliver ultrafast, ultra-reliable Full Fibre broadband to thousands of homes and businesses with an investment worth £13 million. The work is part of the company’s £15 billion investment in upgrading the UK’s largest broadband network and when complete will include most of the Hastings and Rye constituency.

 Ms Hart was given a tour of the work, which involves engineers overlaying copper cables with fibreoptic cables which run from the exchange in Hastings all the way to homes and businesses throughout the town.  These new cables will bring greater reliability and faster speeds and will future-proof the network in the local area for decades to come.

Openreach's Director for the South East, Chief Engineer's team

Phil Royal, director for the South East, Openreach’s Chief Engineer’s team, said: “Nobody in the UK is building Full Fibre broadband faster, further or at a higher quality than Openreach. We’re reaching more communities – in rural, urban and coastal areas - than ever and our team of highly skilled engineers and build partners are working hard to deliver some of the fastest and most reliable broadband available anywhere in the world.

“It’s great that so many homes and businesses across Hastings and Rye will be able to access ultrafast, Full Fibre broadband.  Our engineers are using the latest technology to keep disruption to a minimum and the benefits to the local community will last for at least a generation”.

“We really enjoyed showing Sally-Ann one of our latest innovations, ribbonised fibre, which can connect multiple fibres all at once, without them being spliced individually.  We’re already connecting 60,000 homes and businesses across the UK each week; innovations like this are helping us get to more properties even faster.”

Sally-Ann Hart MP meets Openreach engineers in Hastings

Sally-Ann Hart, MP for Hastings and Rye said, “It was brilliant to meet the engineers who are upgrading the network in Hastings. The Government’s manifesto to deliver nationwide gigabit-broadband with £5 billion investment, leveraging in private investment, is fundamental for local connectivity and economic growth. 

“With more people than ever working from home and flexible working becoming more common place it is essential to ensure that we have the telecommunications infrastructure in place to allow this to happen. I am delighted that Openreach is making this possible and is committed to connecting thousands more by 2026. I will continue to work with them and their local team to help as many homes and businesses connect to the fastest internet possible."

Sally-Ann Hart MP learns about Full Fibre in Hastings

Openreach has made Full Fibre technology available to more than eight million homes and business across the UK so far and the company is continuing work to improve connectivity throughout East Sussex and has announced plans to reach dozens of the “hardest to serve” locations in the county.  A full list and map of all the announced exchanges is here.

The company plays an important role across the South East region with more than 4,800 employees living and working here.  Recent research by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) highlighted the clear economic benefits of connecting everyone in the South West to Full Fibre. It estimated this would create a £8.7 billion boost to the local economy.

This short video explains what Full Fibre technology is, and you can find out more about our Fibre First programme, latest availability and local plans here.