Crawley to benefit from new broadband cables

As part of the West Sussex Gigabit project, public sector buildings in Crawley are set to benefit from new cable-laying plans that are due to begin next week.

The aim is to supply the buildings with faster and more reliable broadband connections in order to boost the resilience of services provided by the councils, without the risk of interferences caused by poor internet connectivity.

Cable-laying is set to begin next week on roads and footpaths that will connect significant public offices in Crawley and Chichester, with seven other localities to follow in due course.

Fibre networks will also be extended to Bognor Regis, Haywards Heath, Horsham, Lancing, Littlehampton, Midhurst, Shoreham and Worthing.

Although the routes are still in the process of being finalised, all attempts are being made to minimalize the disruptions caused to those living in the surrounding areas, especially as some roads have only recently been re-laid. It will, however, be unavoidable in certain sections.

New underground chambers will be dug, to allow space for the installation of ducting for fibre-optic cables.

A spokesperson for the West Sussex County Council said: “In time, we hope that other public services such as schools, NHS buildings and emergency services will also benefit by choosing to invest in and grow the full-fibre network.

“The cable-laying work will be carried out as quickly as possible and every effort is being made to try to keep disruption to a minimum.”

The project is financially backed by funding from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with CityFibre assigned to build the network. Pure fibre wires and connections are to be used in place of the old copper system which will create an infrastructure capable of delivering unlimited speeds north of 1Gbps.

The West Sussex Gigabit project is delivered in conjunction with councils in Ardur and Worthing, Arun District, Chichester District, Crawley Borough, Horsham District and Mid Sussex District.