Openreach is proceeding with a major broadband infrastructure upgrade in Bramley, Surrey after a prolonged period of disruption caused by a fuel leak from a local petrol station, and will continue to work on improving connectivity and boosting fibre access for residents.
The company originally announced upgrades to the area’s ageing copper network back in 2021, but the fuel leak subsequently contaminated parts of its network and forced Openreach to restrict access to its underground ducts for safety reasons.
Over the past 18 months, Openreach has worked closely with environmental experts, local authorities, and safety specialists to manage the risks posed by petrol vapours in its underground network.
It deployed vapour extraction units, conducted extensive safety assessments, and introduced strict new protocols to protect the public.
With these measures in place and the risk levels reduced, Openreach recently reopened access to its underground network in Bramley, allowing its own teams and engineers from other altnets to resume build and maintenance work on their networks.
The recovery effort now paves the way for an upgrade to the local network using full fibre, delivering broadband to 2,500 residents both inside and outside the previously restricted area.
The network will be less prone to service issues caused by extreme weather and environmental impacts, making it a future-proof solution for the community’s connectivity needs.
Andy Whale, Chief Engineer at Openreach said: “This has been a really frustrating situation for residents and businesses in Bramley, but we now see some light at the end of the tunnel.
“We want to turn a bad situation good by not just repairing and restoring the damaged network that exists today, but by building something faster, more reliable and longer lasting.
“This full fibre upgrade is a long-term investment in Bramley’s future, supporting local people and businesses to move on from the disruption with a reliable network.”
