Modernising History: Ultrafast full fibre installed at Stourhead
PROJECT
Leading communication and infrastructure services provider Virtua has partnered with Openreach since 2019 to help build its next generation full fibre network. Read more about our work to install Openreach’s new, future-proof Fibre-to-the-Premises broadband technology across the South East & West.
This project was to upgrade the outdated network at The National Trust site of Stourhead. Stourhead consists of 4km of estate, including several residential properties and a beautiful stately home surrounded by landscaped gardens. It is open to the public and visited throughout the year.
SOLUTION
The challenge at Stourhead was to provide the residents with a new broadband solution without altering any of the historical features, this required the replacement of the existing copper solution with an ultrafast, full fibre solution.
The site was initially surveyed, after which a design produced, ensuring fibre connectivity to the 5 residential properties on site. The 5 properties are located within the main house and enable the staff to live at Stourhead.
The new full fibre solution was deployed utilising the existing and new cable routes that were agreed upon by the National Trust and English Heritage at the survey stage of the project. We were permitted to fix to certain walls and ceilings as well as making use of the under-floor void. Once the installation of the main cabling spine was completed the engineers then connected the newly installed fibre cable to a central fibre node from Openreach’s existing local exchange, making the network live and ready for use.
Throughout the project we worked closely with English Heritage and The National Trust to ensure that our works were completed to the required specifications. Ensuring we did not disturb the aesthetics of the beautiful historical building which is Stourhead.
BENEFIT
This installation will now ensure the residents have access to ultrafast broadband, with speeds of up to 1GB, ten times faster than average speeds today.
Our work with Openreach is ongoing, helping them to install their FTTH solutions across the South East and West of the United Kingdom.
“As the Collections & House Manager responsible for the conservation and presentation of a Grade 1 eighteenth century mansion and the people who visit or volunteer, live or work in it I was really impressed by the care and consideration shown by the team from Virtua. Throughout the process the team came up with appropriate solutions to suit the complex work environment, understood the legal and compliance constraints and were thoughtful in their communication with the Stourhead community."