Rural UK ISP Truespeed Introduce Jacob Rees-Mogg to Full Fibre

Alternative broadband provider Truespeed, which is building a new gigabit speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network across rural parts of South West England, has today welcomed a visit by the UK Government’s former Secretary of State for Business, East Somerset MP Jacob Rees-Mogg.

The operator, which has so far covered 50,000 premises (including 11,500 customers connected) and holds an “ambitious” target to reach 500,000 properties by the end of 2026, is currently being funded by a £175 million investment from Aviva and most of their deployments have taken place across Somerset.

However, it’s worth noting that today’s news of a visit by MP Jacob Rees-Mogg actually occurred over two weeks ago, when he was still acting in his capacity as the Government’s Secretary of State for Business under the former PM, Liz Truss. Since then, he’s resigned and the PM has been replaced by Rishi Sunak. But hopefully his visit to see Truespeed will further enlighten him as to the worth of experts in a specialised field.

Judging by the picture attached, at least one man was particularly happy to see him. Perhaps we need a caption competition: “Is that a fibre conduit you’re holding or are you just happy to see me..” 🙂 . I’ll get my coat. We don’t normally cover stories about politicians visiting sites (they happen a lot), unless there’s more substance, but that picture did cause a chuckle.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, Ex-Secretary of State for Business, said:

“Being connected is vital these days. Truespeed has not only increased the scope for communication but it has given companies the chance to perform on a more equal playing field, which was not previously available. As a customer of Truespeed I know how reliable the service is and how crucial it is. Good connectivity is essential for rural business and leisure activities and I understand that Truespeed continues to invest millions in its network with the aim to reach a further 500,000 homes and businesses by 2026. This really is a success story and something that the South West should be proud of and thankful for.”

James Lowther, Truespeed CEO, added:

“As a local company, we’re incredibly proud of Truespeed’s work in helping people across the region by delivering full fibre broadband they can truly rely on and it’s incredible to see how our service is genuinely transforming everyday life for the better. Access to ultrafast broadband is essential, yet the South West has been underserved and struggling with poor connectivity for years so we’re working tirelessly in rolling out our network so more communities than ever before can benefit from ultrafast connectivity.

We’ve had a remarkable year and reaching significant milestones such as employing over 200 people in the local area, 11,500 live customers and passing 50,000 properties underpins how vital our service is. As we continue to grow as a company and expand our full fibre network, it’s great to be able to share our progress with the Business Secretary and have their support as we improve connectivity throughout the South West and take its residents and businesses out of the digital slow lane.”

End.