Thousands on Isle of Wight missing out on ultrafast broadband

Thousands of homes and businesses on the Isle of Wight are missing out on ultrafast broadband speeds – with Openreach’s new Full Fibre network now reaching more than 15,000 properties.

The network operator has invested more than £4.5m in building the island’s new network, however, just 21 per cent of those who could upgrade have done so – meaning thousands could be enjoying a faster and more reliable service.

The fibre rollout is continuing at pace, with local engineers currently extending the network across Ryde.

The Full Fibre upgrade allows islanders to connect multiple devices at gigabit-capable speeds and businesses to trade online and compete for decades to come.

Local people can visit openreach.co.uk/ultrafastfullfibre to register for updates and check their postcode to see if and when services are available from their chosen provider. 

Martin Williams, Openreach Regional Partnership Director, said: “Fast and reliable full fibre broadband gives households and businesses a boost - and it can have a huge impact on people’s daily lives.

”Switching is easy and may even be cheaper than your existing broadband package, but it’s important to remember that upgrades don’t happen automatically. People need to contact, and place orders through, their broadband service provider to take advantage.

“Our engineering build continues across the Isle of Wight and we’re determined to deliver a great service to local residents, helping people to work from home easily and build connections and opportunities in their communities.”

Openreach is using many island-based engineers to build the new network – some of whom have been working on the Isle of Wight for decades.

Jemma Smith, who leads Openreach’s Isle of Wight team, said: “Having local engineers, with their knowledge of the hotspots and the network, is great. Some of the engineers have been working 20 years, 35 years – their knowledge is really valuable.”

Around half a dozen of the team completed a 25km fundraising walk in support of the local brain tumour charity, Wight Brainy Bunch, in November.

The Openreach colleagues were eager to support an island-based charity – and chose to walk in aid of an organisation that helps families on the island affected by brain tumours.

"I proposed the idea to the team,” Jemma said, “and they were really keen to support the Wight Brainy Bunch because they are a local charity.”

The Openreach network offers the widest choice of providers, such as BT, Sky, TalkTalk, Vodafone and Zen, which means people have lots of choice and can shop for the best deals.

You can find out more about the benefits of an upgrade to Full Fibre broadband on the Openreach website.