The Rt Hon Natalie Elphicke OBE MP paid a visit to Openreach engineers in Deal to gain firsthand insight into the innovative engineering techniques employed in the rollout of ultrafast Full Fibre broadband across her constituency. During her visit, Mrs. Elphicke toured the work sites, which have already extended connectivity to over 75% of homes and businesses in the exchange area, as well as hundreds of thousands more across Kent.
Accompanying Mrs. Elphicke on her visit was Councillor Chris Vinson from Dover District Council. Openreach included Deal in its full fibre expansion in January 2020, and since then, engineers have been diligently working not only in Deal but also in neighboring areas such as Sandwich, Margate, Herne Bay, and Broadstairs. These efforts are set to continue throughout 2023.
During her meeting with the Openreach team, Mrs. Elphicke had the opportunity to gain insights into how the urban and rural buildout plans are progressing in parallel. She visited the local exchange, where she learned about fibre optics and how Full Fibre technology is ensuring future-proofed connections for the region for years to come.
Natalie Elphicke MP expressed her enthusiasm for the broadband upgrade, stating, “It’s great news that three-quarters of Deal now has ultrafast, Full Fibre broadband. This broadband upgrade is providing our community with faster and more reliable internet, supporting businesses and residents across our area. It was good to meet local engineers installing this new equipment in Deal—and to try my hand at splicing fibre optic cable too. The whole Openreach team is doing a fantastic job for Deal and Walmer.”
The visit was hosted by Paul Harding, Openreach’s regional partnership manager, who highlighted the importance of the visit in sharing the challenges and realities of delivering this technology to the region.
Councillor Chris Vinson of Dover District Council expressed strong support for the full fibre rollout in the region, emphasizing its potential to bring faster and more reliable broadband to thousands of local homes and businesses.
Openreach’s Full Fibre broadband offers speeds of up to 1 Gbps, which is up to 10 times faster than the average home broadband connection. This ensures faster game downloads, higher quality video calls, and smoother streaming even with multiple devices connected simultaneously. Full Fibre is also less susceptible to peak time congestion, ensuring a seamless online experience.
