This year marks 15 years since Wessex Internet first began connecting rural communities to reliable full‑fibre broadband: first just across Dorset, before stretching into Somerset, Wiltshire and Hampshire.
What began in 2010 as one farmer’s determination to get a decent internet connection has grown into one of the region’s biggest rural success stories. Faced with a costly and impractical quote from a national provider, local farmer James Gibson Fleming MBE decided to take matters into his own hands. He built a small wireless network to reach his home – and quickly discovered that neighbours, friends and nearby villages were desperate for the same service.
‘I’m incredibly proud of Wessex Internet – that’s what I’d like to be remembered for’
James Gibson Fleming MBE, 1958-2025
From that modest start, the company has now connected tens of thousands of rural homes and businesses. Its first 2,000 customers paved the way for a move to full‑fibre connections, and today Wessex Internet has laid more than 7,700 kilometres of fibre cable – enough to stretch from Blandford Forum to Cairo and back again.
Saved from 1Mbps
The company’s approach remains resolutely community‑based and focused on rural areas. Working with local landowners and farmers, Wessex Internet installs cables discreetly beneath fields, avoiding disruptive roadworks and preserving the landscape. The result is a network that serves more than 40,000 rural premises while supporting over 370 local jobs.
Projects have ranged from connecting an English Heritage property at Old Wardour Castle to running fibre under rivers to reach isolated homes.
One standout success was linking Cheselbourne Village School in just seven weeks – despite the nearest network point being 14 kilometres away. That project alone opened the door to Lulworth, Piddlehinton and beyond. Further schemes have transformed communities – such as Cripplestyle, where residents once endured internet speeds below 1 Mbps.
Within months of Wessex Internet’s arrival, the village had superfast gigabit broadband, and more than 80 per cent of the village households had signed up.
Who’d have thought?
Over the 15 years, the company has won 13 industry awards, including UK Fibre Provider of the Year 2023 and Best UK Rural Enterprise 2024. In 2022 Wessex Internet was the first winner of a Building Digital UK gigabit contract – since securing three more, together worth £72 million – plus £50 million from the National Wealth Fund to expand its reach to 140,000 rural premises.
The business also puts money back into the communities it serves, donating more than £350,000 to local charities and projects. Through its £1 Community Hub scheme, each new build area receives a free or heavily subsidised broadband connection for a local cause. Recent recipients include the Big Yellow Bus Garden Project in Shillingstone, which now provides schoolchildren with instant online learning resources and a thriving digital presence.
The late James Gibson Fleming MBE, founder of Wessex Internet, said: ‘Who would have believed, 15 years ago, that in an attempt to solve our own appalling rural broadband that we would end up creating a leading player in the region?
‘Our passion lies in the rural parts of the southwest that have no access to gigabit capable broadband: in connecting farmers and local communities left behind by major players. We’ve built our niche by not accepting the status quo and taking an engineering-led approach to full fibre rollout. It has stood us in good stead over the last 15 years and is one of the key factors that still defines us today.
‘I’m also proud of the team we’ve built at Wessex Internet. We’ve consistently employed people from outside the telecoms industry that think differently and have always worked extraordinarily hard for this business. They are the passion which drives us forwards and allows us to continue connecting some of the most challenging communities to ultrafast full fibre broadband.’
When editor Laura interviewed James just a few months ago on receiving his MBE, he poignantly told her, ‘I’m incredibly proud of Wessex Internet – that’s what I’d like to be remembered for. It’s changed people’s lives.
‘And it’s not just what we’ve built, it’s how we did it – community first, always.’
