Fuel leak prompts Openreach full-fibre broadband upgrade

Broadband provider Openreach has announced it is proceeding with a major infrastructure upgrade to the UK village of Bramley in Surrey.

Like many rural locations, Bramley has struggled for years with poor connectivity, a situation made worse for a prolonged period after a fuel leak from a local petrol station plunged many into having no or glitchy internet.

Somewhat advantageously, Openreach had originally announced upgrades to the area’s ageing copper network in 2021, but the fuel leak subsequently contaminated parts of its network and forced the company to restrict access to its underground ducts for safety reasons. 

Over the past 18 months, Openreach has worked with environmental experts, local authorities and safety specialists to manage the risks posed by petrol vapours in its underground network. It deployed vapour extraction units, conducted safety assessments and introduced new protocols designed to protect the public.

Once the measures taken had reduced the risks to acceptable levels, Openreach reopened access to its underground network in Bramley, allowing its own teams and engineers from other companies such as independent broadband providers (altnets) to resume build and maintenance work on their networks. Openreach describes this current situation as marking a “significant milestone” in the recovery effort that paves the way for what it believes will be a “transformative” upgrade to the local network using full-fibre broadband.

In what is seen as a long-term solution for Bramley, Openreach’s network will deliver full-fibre to around 2,500 homes and businesses across the village, both inside and outside the previously restricted area. Openreach guarantees that the network will be far less prone to service issues caused by extreme weather and environmental impacts, making it a future-proof offering for the community’s connectivity needs.

“This has been a really frustrating situation for residents and businesses in Bramley, but we now see some light at the end of the tunnel,” said Openreach chief engineer Andy Whale. “We want to turn a bad situation good by not just repairing and restoring the damaged network that exists today, but by building something much faster, more reliable and longer lasting. This full-fibre upgrade is a long-term investment in Bramley’s future, supporting local people and businesses to move on from the disruption with a network they can rely on for decades. We hope it’ll help the local community and economy to recover, grow and thrive in a digitally connected future.”

Openreach has been maintaining connectivity in the area through a combination of remote fault fixes, temporary satellite hubs at key community locations and alternative network services.

Furthermore, the provider said its engineers were confident they can minimise disruption in the repair work by reusing existing underground ducts and telephone poles wherever possible, to minimise and avoid roadworks and closures. The company is also working closely with Bramley Parish Council and other local groups and stakeholders to make sure the community is informed and involved throughout the process.

“I can’t overstate what a positive difference full fibre roll-out will make for Bramley residents and businesses,” said Jane Austin, Waverley Borough councillor and chair of Bramley Parish Council. “Openreach have listened to our concerns about the prospect of potential disturbance with roll-out and they have come up with a plan to minimise disruption.

“We look forward to continuing our constructive working relationship so we can improve the Bramley area; our community is bouncing back even stronger than we were before.”