Independent broadband provider Wessex Internet has revealed that rural towns and villages in the New Forest are set to benefit from a £14 million investment under a £5 billion scheme.
This comes just days after Openreach, a major UK telecoms provider, announced it had been awarded a contract worth £800 million to modernise rural broadband infrastructure in England, Scotland and Wales under the UK government’s Project Gigabit programme.
The Project Gigabit programme was introduced in 2021 with the aim of accelerating the UK’s COVID-19 recovery, boosting high-growth sectors such as technology and the creative industries, and levelling up the country, distributing wealth and creating jobs. At the time of its launch, the previous government said it would prioritise areas with slower connections that were left out of commercial broadband companies’ plans, giving rural areas access to the fastest internet on the market and contributing to economic growth.
Now, as part of the Gigabit Project, Wessex Internet has begun connecting residential and business customers in Sway and Brockenhurst to its full-fiber broadband network, and Wessex Internet says the rollout will see more than 10,500 properties connected to faster, more reliable gigabit-capable broadband. Work to extend the company’s superfast network to the communities of Hodle, Setley, Bisterne and Tyrrell is due to be completed soon.
The gigabit rollout will continue over the next two years and will target other hard-to-access rural areas of the New Forest that would have missed out on faster speeds without the Government investment, Ortnet said.
The rollout will target areas including the workshops, studios and galleries of SPUD, a New Forest-based charity which seeks to engage the community through a wide range of arts, design, ecology and architecture programmes. SPUD events supported by Wessex Internet in 2024 will include a video project made by young people and screened on a 180-degree screen as part of Hampshire Open Studios, an Art Angel Showcase in September where amateur artists who have attended SPUD workshops over the year will present their work, and a joint initiative with the New Forest National Park Authority to support SPUD’s flagship open exhibition in December, bringing together work from artists across the region.
Commenting on the partnership, Hector Gibson-Fleming, CEO of Wessex Internet, said: “In addition to our passion for connecting rural areas that are often overlooked, a key difference between Wessex Internet and traditional providers is that we work in partnership with the communities we connect before we even build our network, and we seek to support the organisations that have an ongoing impact on these communities…
“[The] Spudworks’ exciting and diverse base in Sway hosts exhibitions by a range of local, national and international artists, hosts workshops for use by community groups including dementia support work, art tastings and youth projects, provides affordable studio space for emerging artists and is staffed by a small team of staff.
“It was clear that their busy site, with artists working with digital screens and video footage, was being held back by a slow and unreliable traditional internet connection, so we offered them a full fibre business package for just £1 a month, saving them £1,200 a year. As well as providing this state-of-the-art connectivity which will support all their artists and endeavours for years to come, we’re also sponsoring some of their upcoming events.”
Mark Drury, director of SPUD and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, added: “Improved high-speed connectivity will enable people working at Spudworks’ site in Sway to work on a range of digital projects, particularly audio and visual work, and also enable them to video conference with partners and artists around the world, bringing their work to a wider audience.”
“We are thrilled to have Wessex Internet’s support in a number of upcoming exhibitions celebrating Spudworks’ local artistic community and hope to build a strong partnership for the future.”
