Wessex Internet

Joshua Goodchild Community Engagement Manager – Wessex Internet.

Rural broadband, as it should be.

What does rural living entail? Sleepy villages with quiet lanes, a community centred around a Church, a pub and a shop (if you are lucky enough to have all three). The ability to access beautiful walks from your doorstep. The annual village fete or the weekly event such a coffee morning in the church or a cricket match hosted at the village field. Quite idyllic really, isn’t it? Growing up in the Hampshire countryside I came to appreciate how lucky I was to live in such communities, much like Stourton Caundle; it is almost like a place that time left alone. There are of course, many advantages to this, such as unspoilt scenery and an unshakeable community spirit that can only exist in this environment.

However, there are two sides of this coin. Potholes, a distinct lack of buses and finally, the one I am writing to you about, poor rural broadband connectivity. For too long rural communities have been left behind in terms of their broadband. Slow speeds and unreliability; the usual order of the day. A community with poor broadband connectivity suffers on many fronts. It may struggle to keep or attract young families. People, and families require brilliant broadband for tasks such as working from home, homework, gaming, social media etc. Small businesses may feel that the broadband in a community does not suit their needs and therefore, may look to move their premises elsewhere. In addition to this, for those of you who are mad enough to even contemplate leaving Stourton Caundle; a poor broadband connection can seriously jeopardise your house sale and make it less desirable to potential buyers. Unbelievable in a location such as Stourton Caundle, but please, ask your estate agent!

For these reasons (and many others) the Government under the guise of Building Digital United Kingdom (BDUK), has been funding the roll out of gigabit capable broadband to rural areas. This is where Wessex Internet intercedes. We work with BDUK and local communities to deliver full fibre connections direct to homes and businesses. This is done via the Project Gigabit North Dorset contract, where Wessex Internet is contracted to build a full fibre network to communities such at Stourton Caundle. This contract was awarded to Wessex Internet in September 2022, and it is funding fibre roll out to 7000 of the hardest to reach homes and businesses in North Dorset and is set to be completed in September 2025.

We are at the very start of the process in Stourton Caundle, which means our planning team are looking at how we roll our network out to the whole community (we have already built a fibre link to the Village Hall, as part of another contract). This means that you may see Wessex Internet employees around the village surveying routes and the existing infrastructure, please feel free to approach them and ask them questions. I will also be looking to host a community meeting in the winter of this year to introduce Wessex Internet’s plans to residents further.

I look forward to exploring Stourton Caundle some more and working closely with you all. I would also implore you to register your interest on our website (www.wessexinternet.com) to be kept up to date with the progress of the project. If you have any further questions, please email community@wessexinternet.com or contact our office on 0333 240 7997.

Joshua Goodchild Community Engagement Manager – Wessex Internet.