Celebrating World Earth Day

Celebrating World Earth Day

At Wessex Internet, we’re lucky enough to work across some of the most beautiful areas of the country. There’s no better time to reiterate how important the environment really is to us than on Earth Day.

Since 1970, Earth Day has provided an annual opportunity for individuals and organisations to come together and show support for environmental protection. These days, around 1 billion people in more than 193 countries get involved in some form or other.

As current-day custodians of the land, we believe it is our duty to treat it with respect and leave it in the condition we found it in. That’s why, when we’re running our fibre cables through the countryside, we prioritise the use of techniques like mole ploughing and drilling to reduce the visual impact on the landscape. Think of them as being big sewing machines, threading their cables just under a metre below the countryside.

Before we even get to that stage of the build process, we work closely with communities and individual landowners to plan the best routes for us to take, in ways which minimize disruption and mess. Where necessary, we also work with local environment agencies to ensure that all of the work we’re doing stays sustainable.

Fibre is made-up of glass strands around 150 times smaller than a strand of spaghetti and sends information via light. This process uses significantly less energy than outdated copper wires – around 35-40% less in fact – and as the internet speed rises, so does the energy saving.

The infrastructure is futureproofed, needing far less maintenance and fewer upgrades than other forms of broadband. It also has a far smaller environmental impact than satellite broadband, which requires energy-intensive satellite manufacturing and launches.

These commitments are not just for Earth Day. They are for every day. We are committed to connecting the countryside in a way which benefits not just the people – but the environment, too.