Fibre engineers make fast work of volunteering!
Openreach engineers volunteered their time recently to transform two overgrown footpaths in popular Humberstone Park in Leicester.
The team of around 20, who’re already working in the area building Openreach’s new full fibre network, helped cut back overgrown vegetation, repaired steps, put down new gravel and cleared the area of any rubbish.
Openreach engineers can volunteer locally for three days every year, and the team chose to donate their time to the popular council-run park located in a busy part of Leicester.
Other volunteering in the East Midlands recently has included tree planting in Sherwood Forest, and sprucing up a community garden in Shipley, Derbyshire.
The work coincided with Openreach reaching 40,000 homes and businesses across Leicestershire with full fibre broadband – an investment of more than £12 million.
Openreach’s Programme Director, Joe Mills, picks up the story: “We’re working in the area to make full fibre available, and we’d noticed the huge amount of good work that already takes place. We got in touch with the parks department at the county council and volunteered our time for any good causes they knew of locally.
“Humberstone Park is popular with residents, so we were pleased when they suggested we might be able to help with clearing two walkways, which had become overgrown. The whole team put a good shift in, and we had them cleared in no time.
“Full fibre is being made available in many parts of Leicester, so it’s worth local residents checking the fibre checker at openreach.com to see if our engineers have reached the area where you live.”
Under the guidance of Leicestershire County Council’s parks officer, Openreach engineers spent a full day helping clear the pathways, which had become overgrown.
Thankfully, the team is used to working outdoors as they build the network that makes Ultrafast full fibre broadband available.
As well as being faster, Full Fibre broadband provides more reliable, resilient, and future-proof connectivity, with fewer faults; more predictable, consistent speeds; and enough capacity to use multiple devices at once.
The technology supports a host of online services and entertainment such as seamless streaming and smooth online gaming experiences.
Businesses can operate with certainty that their broadband will support all their day-to-day, business critical tasks such as video calls, banking and customer interaction via social media platforms.
Across Leicestershire, more than 40,000 premises can already access full fibre, with work taking place in towns and villages across the county to extend that reach even further.
Openreach has a strong presence across the East Midlands, with more than 1,600 people living and working in the region.
