Brighton: North Laine one of the worst in city for internet speed – The Argus

Gardner Street, Gloucester Road and Jubilee Street in North Laine, Brighton, can have some of the poorest upload speeds in the city due to “outdated” copper wiring used.

Copper wiring meant internet upload speeds were as low as 1Mbps in some streets in North Laine.

The average internet speed in the UK last year was 50Mbps.

Xoomtalk, a full fibre internet service provider which has been in the city for 23 years, has been helping businesses around North Laine to improve their internet speed.

Chris Brownings, commercial director for Xoomtalk, said: “We have seen traditional copper networks provide speeds that make operating as a business in the city very challenging.

The team at Xoomtalk – from top left, Charlie Pree, Malachi Redmond, Simon Colley, Duncan French, George Mason, Rachael Keates, Harry Salmon, Tom Asquith-Peacock, Chris Brownings, Peter Beale (Image: Xoomtalk)

“Areas such as Gardner Street and Jubilee Street, situated in the heart of North Laine, have historically only been able achieve 1Mbps upload speed using copper based networks.

“There are numerous other areas in the city also served by poor copper based options that hinder business operations.”

Xoomtalk said that with more than 25km of new fibre in the ground across Brighton and Hove, businesses will be provided with a “reliable and high-quality infrastructure that eliminates connectivity outages and slow speeds”.

Chris said: “The newly deployed full fibre network will bring a wealth of new options for businesses locally and allows us to provide connectivity to businesses that will properly support them. We are super excited to bring this to the Brighton and Hove business community.”

Businesses in the North Laine area struggle for good internet speeds due to copper wiring (Image: Simon Dack)

The business, in Church Road, Hove, said it offers internet speeds up to 150 times faster than the average broadband in the UK, while also providing businesses with an opportunity to benefit from up to 10Gbps speeds.

Duncan French, managing director, said: “When we founded Xoomtalk in Brighton and Hove in 2000, connectivity options in the city were limited with restrictive speeds.

“Over the years this has hindered growth especially in such a dynamic and forward thinking city. Our mission is to revolutionise the way businesses access the internet by offering incredible speeds paired with exceptional customer service.”