Paul Martin

For Paul Martin, a slow, unreliable internet connection made running his business from home in Fryerning a major headache.

Since setting up Excel in Business – a management information and business intelligence software house – 16 years ago, he’s had to contend with everything from dial-up internet access, to a satellite dish. But, even on a good day, Paul struggled to reach speeds of more than 2Mbps.

This made running demonstrations and training a real challenge. In preparation for calls with clients, he’d run speed tests and make sure everyone in the household disconnected their devices.

“I’d have to manage it to a daft level where I’d do part of a conference call using the phone and sharing the screen using the internet,” Paul explains. “When you’re a tech company, that doesn’t give off the best image.”

Paul’s search for a better solution led him to the Superfast Essex programme. He signed up to be a Broadband Champion – a community ambassador who shares updates and information about what’s happening in local neighbourhoods. Then, soon after, he attended a meeting where he heard from Superfast Essex and operators Openreach and Gigaclear about the rollout across Essex.

But Paul learnt his home in Fryerning was too far from Openreach’s fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) technology to benefit from superfast broadband. “I was about 100 yards short of the cabinet – I could see it, but I couldn’t connect to it,” he says.

By this point, he’d opted for a 4G router, giving him speeds of up to 25Mbps. But, determined to get access to superfast broadband, he set about spreading the word in his neighbourhood – encouraging people to register their demand. “I thought it was important to go to my neighbours and say, ‘The more of us who show an interest, the better’.”

Not long after, Openreach installed a cabinet at the bottom of Paul’s road. “Within a week from there, life got a lot better!” he says. He now gets a guaranteed bandwidth of 50Mbps.

“It’s transformed the way I can use the internet for business,” he says. “Now if I book something in with a client, I know I can do it. Before, I’d hope I could, but there were occasions when I’d have to reschedule things, causing business delays. The fact that I can do more sales calls means ultimately more revenue.”

Paul says superfast broadband has made a big difference to his homelife, too. “Like most families, we’re addicted to streaming content,” he says. “But we couldn’t even have Netflix before – we’d watch it for 10 seconds and it would glitch so many times.

“Now my 16-year-old son gets incredibly excited about playing PS4 games properly! Superfast broadband changes your life and the way you do things without any doubt.”

If you’re a business or resident moving home or into a new business premises or struggling with your broadband speeds, like Paul was, remember to check if superfast broadband is available or if your address is in plans to be upgraded to superfast speeds using the Superfast Essex rollout map: www.superfastessex.org/interactive-maps