1 Overview
Creating the right conditions to enable the commercial market to invest in building fibre broadband services is a key activity for West Sussex County Council (WSCC) and our partner district and borough councils.
We actively seek to accelerate commercial investment and have secured significant interest from several broadband suppliers building network at scale and pace across the county.
2 Commercial broadband works
Commercial telecoms providers have the right to work to deliver their investment regardless of whether there may be similar existing services in an area or not. WSCC will seek to facilitate any works proposed within our publicly maintainable land as we welcome this investment from which our communities will benefit with access to gigabit-capable broadband.
The county’s councils only have limited and very specific grounds to intervene should it be demonstrated that a provider has not complied with the relevant requirements and legislation of working within publicly maintained land.
With the increased pace and scale of build that we anticipate continuing by commercial telecoms suppliers, communities may experience some localised disruption as a result.
Commercial telecoms suppliers and their sub-contractors are legally entitled to install or maintain their apparatus under the New Roads & Street Works Act (NRSWA). WSCC operates a permitting scheme whereby statutory undertakers under NRSWA are able to request permission to maintain or put their equipment into the highway or the footpath.
Should you have any comments relating to broadband works please contact the relevant supplier.
Find details of all approved permits.