Arundel braced for new super-fast internet speed

Work is underway to fit the new high-speed connection, which will, hopefully, benefit residents and businesses in the historic town.

It has been welcomed by Arundel’s mayor, Michael Tu, who said: “We have been waiting for this forever. The town council welcomes the imminent upgrading of the broadband connection, which is long overdue.”

The challenge of connecting Arundel to the latest fibre technology is being met by a major programme of engineering.

It will see about seven miles of underground cable ducting being laid to hold and protect the fibre as it makes its way from Rustington north to Arundel.

Traffic management will be in operation along the main routes into and out of Arundel with work being carried out overnight to try to minimise disruption in the town.

A total of eight new fibre broadband cabinets are being built in the town, which, once completed, will allow almost 3,000 people to have better access to faster internet speeds.

The work is being carried out as part of the Better Connected project, jointly funded by West Sussex County Council, BT and 
the Government.

David Barling, the county council’s cabinet member for residents’ services, said the council was ‘fully committed to its exciting programme of investment in high-speed fibre broadband’, adding: “High-speed broadband means you can multi-stream news, information, music and films on several devices at the same time, communicate with friends and family around the world, save money online using banking and shopping services, access news and learning, apply for jobs and even buy a new home.”

Arundel and South Downs MP, Nick Herbert said it was ‘great news for Arundel residents’, adding: “I’m pleased that the broadband summit I held is yielding results as more towns and villages in my constituency are connected to fibre thanks to Government and county council funding.

“We must now close the digital divide fully to ensure that the rural downland areas aren’t left behind.”

David Axam, regional director for BT in the south east, said the scheme marked a ‘giant step forward in the rollout of fibre broadband in West Sussex and Arundel’. To date, more than 330,000 homes in the county have access to high-speed broadband.