Full Fibre broadband boost for East Sussex village

Homes and businesses in a rural East Sussex village are now enjoying some of the fastest broadband speeds in the UK.

An Openreach Fibre Community Partnership programme has delivered ultrafast Full Fibre broadband to more than 330 premises across Westfield – with hundreds more set to be connected in the coming months – after locals used the UK Government’s Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme, alongside a contribution from Openreach, to help fund the parish’s digital transformation.

Residents gathered in the local community hall earlier this month to hear about how the scheme was progressing and the benefits that Full Fibre broadband brings.

The project to bring ultrafast broadband to the Westfield parish was spearheaded by the local parish council. A community consultation in 2020 found that 70 per cent of respondents were supportive of improving broadband service.

Jane Clarke, Clerk and Financial Officer at Westfield Parish Council and a community lead for the project, said that, as well as boosting broadband speeds, the scheme had also made residents ‘feel they haven’t been forgotten’.

“Being so close to Hastings, people assume Westfield residents have the same access to services and broadband that the town does,” she added. “In reality this is very different, and, being in a rural setting with one bus an hour, having decent broadband to keep people connected and allow people to work effectively from home is an amazing boost for the Parish.”

Jessica Bita, Rural Engagement Manager for Openreach, attended the community meeting and said: “We’d like to thank everyone who has pledged and validated vouchers - and to the community for getting behind this. Fibre community partnerships only work when everyone gets on board.

“Openreach is investing £15 billion to build Full Fibre broadband to 25 million homes across the UK – and more than six million of those will be in the hardest-to-reach communities – but we can’t upgrade the whole country alone. This support from Government is a vital part of that process.”

Local MP Sally-Ann Hart said: “I am thrilled that Westfield has benefited from the Government’s highly successful Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme. This is a £5 billion 
 

Government project to support gigabit broadband coverage in areas not covered by commercial roll out. The roll out of broadband to rural and hard to reach areas is a priority for the Government. As of January 2024, 80 per cent of UK premises now have a gigabit-capable connection - a huge leap forwards from just six per cent in January 2019.

“I would like to thank Hamish Monro and Jane Clarke for all their hard work in achieving this, as well as the community for engaging with the scheme and Openreach for securing its installation.”

Full Fibre broadband provides more reliable, resilient and future-proof connectivity with fewer faults, more predictable, consistent speeds and enough capacity to easily meet growing data demands.

Residents can take a service with the provider of their choice on the Openreach network and enjoy a host of online services and entertainment, with seamless streaming and smooth online gaming. The technology also supports day-to-day, business critical tasks like video calls, banking and online customer interactions.

Local people can visit openreach.co.uk/ultrafastfullfibre to register for updates and, as the build progresses, check their addresses to see when services are available from their chosen provider.