Openreach Enables Ultrafast broadband in East Neuk of Fife

Openreach – the UK’s largest broadband network - has been building the new ultra-reliable, gigabit-capable full fibre broadband as part of its plan to reach rural and coastal towns and villages.

Around 90 per cent of the households and businesses across Lundin Links, Lower Largo, Anstruther, Cellardyke, Pittenweem and Kilrenny can now connect, with work still ongoing.

Robert Williamson, Openreach’s chief engineer for Fife, said: “We set out to bring better broadband to as much of Lower Largo, Lundin Links and the Anstruther area as possible, and we’ve made really good progress. Copper has served us well for the last 100 years but it’s coming to the end of its working life. Local people here in the East Neuk can now be among the first in the UK to make the move to a fully fibre-optic network.

“Full fibre is the next generation of internet technology and this upgrade will transform people’s internet experience. We’d recommend that residents contact their service providers to find out about switching to a faster service.”

Lundin Links resident Louise Robb, who runs a business consultancy and coaching practice with clients in more than 50 countries worldwide, was one of the first to get connected earlier this year. She said: “Unbeknown to me at the time, getting full fibre broadband early in 2020 was a lifesaver.

“It meant I was able to continue running my organisational development consultancy through the pandemic as well as co-ordinating online zoom meetings to serve our community charity. We just could not have done this so effectively – if at all – on the old broadband. The Openreach team on the ground have been absolute stars and the timing of their work in the village could not have been better.

“Full fibre has been nothing short of revolutionary – we now have incredibly quick download and upload speeds, perfect for moving large files around, and carrying out virtual meetings and presentations.”

Mid Fife and Glenrothes MSP Jenny Gilruth said: “I’ve been working closely with Openreach on broadband improvements in my constituency and it’s great to see this progress. Having access to reliable, fast full fibre connectivity will give residents and businesses a much-needed boost. It demonstrates that where there’s a will there’s a way to get rural and coastal areas well connected. I will continue to work with Openreach to identify priority areas and support local businesses and workers.”

East Neuk Councillor Bill Porteous added: “I’m very pleased to see the work that’s going on in Anstruther and Cellardyke. The Openreach teams have been working night and day to put in the new full fibre infrastructure. Having access to gigabit-capable broadband will make a huge difference to local businesses and residents.”

Future-proof full fibre broadband is capable of carrying speeds up to 1Gbps - around 15 times faster than the UK’s current average - bringing more reliable, ultrafast broadband services to communities.

Openreach is building gigabit-capable1, future-proof full fibre broadband networks in more than 80 Scottish cities, towns and villages as part of a £12bn plan to reach up to 20 million UK premises by the mid-to-late 2020s.