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Broadband provider Openreach<\/a> has announced it is proceeding with a major infrastructure upgrade to the UK village of Bramley in Surrey.<\/p>\n Like many rural locations, Bramley has struggled for years with poor connectivity, a situation made worse for a prolonged period after a fuel leak from a local petrol station plunged many into having no or glitchy internet.<\/p>\n Somewhat advantageously, Openreach had originally announced upgrades to the area\u2019s ageing copper network in 2021<\/a>, but the fuel leak subsequently contaminated parts of its network and forced the company to restrict access to its underground ducts for safety reasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n Over the past 18 months, Openreach has worked 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 safety assessments and introduced new protocols designed to protect the public.<\/p>\n Once the measures taken had reduced the risks to acceptable levels, Openreach reopened access to its underground network in Bramley, allowing its own teams and engineers from other companies such as independent broadband providers (altnets<\/a>) to resume build and maintenance work on their networks. Openreach describes this current situation as marking a \u201csignificant milestone\u201d in the recovery effort that paves the way for what it believes will be a \u201ctransformative\u201d upgrade to the local network using full-fibre broadband<\/a>.<\/p>\n In what is seen as a long-term solution for Bramley, Openreach\u2019s network will deliver full-fibre to around 2,500 homes and businesses across the village, both inside and outside the previously restricted area. Openreach guarantees that the network will be far less prone to service issues caused by extreme weather and environmental impacts, making it a future-proof offering for the community\u2019s connectivity needs.<\/p>\n \u201cThis has been a really frustrating situation for residents and businesses in Bramley, but we now see some light at the end of the tunnel,\u201d said Openreach chief engineer Andy Whale. \u201cWe want to turn a bad situation good by not just repairing and restoring the damaged network that exists today, but by building something much faster, more reliable and longer lasting. This full-fibre upgrade is a long-term investment in Bramley\u2019s future, supporting local people and businesses to move on from the disruption with a network they can rely on for decades. We hope it\u2019ll help the local community and economy to recover, grow and thrive in a digitally connected future.\u201d<\/p>\n Openreach has been maintaining connectivity in the area through a combination of remote fault fixes, temporary satellite hubs at key community locations and alternative network services.<\/p>\n