Connecting farmers: from electricity to fibre

Look at this gem of a find!

A 1950’s Portman Pony Club brochure which has an advert on the back for the ‘Southern Electricity Service’ for ‘Electricity on the Farm’. Printed before the internet was even dreamt about, this classic piece of advertising showcases the technology of the time, with a hand drawn image and different typefaces.

Can you even imagine a time when a farm would have no electricity? The invention would have been a game changer for farmers and the industry. Allowing for light to lead the way and enabling work to commence earlier and finish later, also using electricity powered machinery to speed up processes and work faster facilitating higher yield and profitability. We believe that this publication has a striking resemblance to our own, modern day advertising for our full fibre connectivity; and we believe full fibre will be as game-changing for farmers and rural communities as electricity was.

The Southern Electricity Service advert highlights their agricultural experience, as no doubt farmers in the 1950’s would have had concerns about electrical installation on their farms: would it be safe, would there be damage?

Likewise, today, we understand farmers may have concerns about the potential impact of installing fibre across their land.

Wessex Internet, having grown out of a farming business, builds its fibre network in a different way to other operators, using trenchless methods (vibratory mole ploughs / directional drills) to minimise disruption to agricultural land. Our experienced build teams are recruited from agriculture, and so are sympathetic to farming practices, rural communities and landowner concerns.

“We appreciate how valuable the land is to farmers and landowners, so we use the best, innovative techniques to create a trenchless infrastructure. We route our network across fields and under hedges using soft dig techniques, rather than digging up roads and causing disruption” explains Ludo Skinner, the company’s infrastructure director.

In 70 years’ time, we’re sure our advertising will be viewed in the same way, with future generations wondering how did we even live without full fibre internet? This future proof technology will ensure all communities, even those in the most rural of locations, are connected to fast and reliable broadband.