Exascale Bring Full Fibre to Wappenshall Junction Redevelopment

Broadband ISP Exascale, which is building their own gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network to around 2,000 premises – mostly around Telford and Wrekin, has joined with the Shrewsbury & Newport Canals Trust (SNCT) to extend their network to the poorly served Wappenshall Junction redevelopment project in Shropshire (England).

Due to its historic importance, Telford and Wrekin Council originally purchased the Wappenshall Wharf site in 2009 and granted a lease to the SNCT for 125 years to maintain and restore the derelict buildings and the East Basin (canal). After years spent raising the funding and to obtain Planning Permission and Listed Building Consents, the physical restoration – supported by a team of volunteers – finally began in the Winter of 2018.

The ambitious initiative also aims to offer community spaces and an on-site café, enhancing the overall area. But until now this has all proven difficult because, according to Exascale, the best that local premises on the site could access was a meagre 1Mbps ADSL broadband connection.

Thomas Bibb, CEO of Exascale, said:

“We’re very excited to be working with the Shrewsbury & Newport Canals trust, providing managed WiFi solutions in addition to Managed Gigabit Full Fibre connectivity to the building – which will be a massive improvement on the current 1Mbps legacy ADSL connection!”.

The new service represents somewhat of an extension to their existing fibre roll-out in Wappenshall.