New 280km Full Fibre Network in South Essex Covers 9,000 Businesses

The ITS Technology Group, which has deployed various open access full fibre broadband and Ethernet networks (“Faster Britain“) across urban parts of the UK for businesses and ISPs, has revealed that their £7.5m (state aid) project to deploy a new 280km long full fibre network in South Essex (England) has now connected 250 public sector sites and covered 9,000 businesses.

The full fibre network, which is both constructed and managed by ITS Technology, was originally created to underpin the shared digital ambitions of the Basildon, Brentwood, Castle Point, Essex County, Rochford, Southend-on-Sea, and Thurrock Councils, operating as South Essex Councils (SEC).

The project, which started in April 2020, was backed by funding of approximately £7.5 million from DCMS (now the ‘Department for Innovation, Science and Technology’ (DSIT)), the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (now Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC)), and the South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP).

The network has since been installed to 250 public sector sites across the region, including council offices, libraries, sheltered accommodation, museums, hostels, leisure centres, schools, fire stations, and community and village halls etc.

Carol Thomas, Director for Digital and ICT at SEC’s Digital Programme, said:

“SEC and our Digital Programme were established to foster joined up thinking across neighbouring local authorities. Among our priorities was a mission to upgrade our outdated broadband networks to underpin economic growth and improve the delivery of public services. In a relatively short timeframe, working with ITS, we have achieved a number of key milestones. This project has delivered futureproof connectivity and reduced our costs, already transforming how we deliver services to our communities. Our focus remains on continuing to create sustainable and positive outcomes that will benefit South Essex for years to come.”

Daren Baythorpe, CEO of ITS, said:

“It is impressive that the seven councils at the heart of SEC had the foresight to collaborate on this significant digital infrastructure project. Full fibre is essential to underpinning a modern economy that reflects the needs and aspirations of businesses and residents. We are delighted to have worked with SEC to build and continue to operate this transformational network to benefit local businesses and organisations to harness the power of digitalisation.”

The network appears to adopt somewhat of an anchor tenancy approach, which means that commercial fibre carriers can also use it to help extend their full fibre investments into areas of South Essex that will benefit residents and businesses. But doing that typically requires additional investment from the private sector.