Cotswolds Broadband lays fibre optic cable ducts in Leafield

Ducts to support fibre optic broadband cables have been laid in Leafield, West Oxfordshire as part of the Cotswolds Broadband project.

The initiative has taken advantage of local infrastructure work to install the ducts alongside power cables in existing trenches, removing the need for new ditches to be dug.

Project leaders are aiming to bring open access fibre-to-the-premises broadband to 90 per cent of homes and businesses in and around Chipping Norton.

Cotswolds Broadband team member Hugo Pickering said sharing infrastructure in this way offers several advantages.

"It means only one dig and thereby less disruption for customers, as well as a single trench to be unearthed in future, although this one won't need to be touched for many years to come," he explained.

However, Mr Pickering stressed that the project is still some distance from starting to lay ducts "in earnest" to house the fibre optic cables that will deliver super-fast broadband across West Oxfordshire and the Chipping Norton area.