Spaldwick is proud to be one of the best-connected rural communities in the country. Full-fibre broadband is available across the village, with services offering download speeds of up to 1,600 Mbps.
This did not happen by accident. Successive village campaigns helped bring ADSL, superfast broadband and finally ultrafast full-fibre broadband into Spaldwick. Local volunteers encouraged registrations, explained the technology, helped residents get connected and worked with Connecting Cambridgeshire and Openreach to overcome the disadvantages often experienced by rural communities.
On this page: Broadband today · Getting the best from it · Help & contact · The full story · Campaigning (2012–14) · Full fibre (2019–21) · Sources
Broadband today
Full-fibre broadband, also called Fibre-to-the-Premises or FTTP, is available throughout Spaldwick. Speeds are no longer dependent on the distance from the exchange or the fibre street cabinet. Download speeds of up to 1,600 Mbps are offered, but you may opt for packages with lower speeds to save money. Unlike older services that relied on copper telephone lines for the final part of the connection, FTTP brings fibre directly to the property.
Its advantages include:
- much faster download and upload speeds.
- greater reliability.
- better support for working from home.
- capacity for several people and devices to be online at once.
- smoother streaming, gaming and video calling.
Packages and maximum speeds vary between providers. Availability, prices and guaranteed speeds should always be checked for the individual address before placing an order.
Check availability at your address with the Openreach Availability Checker
Getting the best from full fibre
Ordering a fast connection does not automatically guarantee fast Wi-Fi in every room. Thick walls, the position of the router, interference and the capabilities of individual devices can all affect performance. For the best results:
- place the router in an open, central position where possible.
- connect desktop computers, televisions and other fixed equipment by Ethernet cable where practical.
- consider adding access points or extenders for larger homes or areas with weak coverage.
Help with broadband
For local information or help with broadband in Spaldwick, contact Jason Patel, our Broadband Champion, at me@jasonpatel.co.uk.
Our journey to where we are now
Our journey to where we are now has been exciting, groundbreaking and, at times, challenging and frustrating. However, the main thing is that we got there! Current residents now enjoy all the benefits that ultrafast broadband has to offer while being able to live and work in such a beautiful rural location.
2004: ADSL launch
Spaldwick’s modern broadband story began when villagers joined a demand-registration campaign (working with Alconbury) to demonstrate that sufficient local interest existed to justify an upgrade.
The campaign succeeded. ADSL broadband was launched from the Woolley telephone exchange in July 2004, making Spaldwick one of the earlier rural villages in the country to obtain the service.
Compared with dial-up internet, ADSL transformed the experience of going online. However, the service still travelled over copper telephone lines, and the distance between a property and the exchange had a major effect on speed.
2009: a village divided by speed
By December 2009, Parish Council minutes recorded how uneven broadband performance was. Residents in Ivy Way and the eastern end of High Street reported download speeds of about 2 to 3 Mbps. At the western end of High Street, in Thrapston Road and lower Stow Road, reported speeds were only about 0.5 to 1 Mbps.
These figures illustrate why another community campaign was needed. Broadband had become increasingly important, but the properties most distant from the exchange were receiving the poorest service.
2012 to 2014: campaigning for superfast broadband
Connecting Cambridgeshire was launched in May 2012 to improve broadband across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. Mark Heath became Spaldwick’s volunteer Broadband Champion and worked to ensure that the village demonstrated strong demand.
The campaign used the village website, newsletters, meetings and direct assistance to explain the benefits of fibre. More than 90% of the community supported Spaldwick’s registration campaign.
Superfast Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC) broadband arrived in late June and early July 2014. Fibre was brought to a new roadside cabinet, although the final connection to each property still used the existing copper telephone line.
Within the first month, about 40% of Spaldwick households had upgraded. Take-up later exceeded 70% and eventually passed 80%, placing Spaldwick among the leading communities in Cambridgeshire and nationally.
8 August 2014: the Broadband Minister visits Spaldwick
Spaldwick’s success attracted national attention. On 8 August 2014, Digital Economy Minister Ed Vaizey visited the village as part of a fact-finding visit marking the Connecting Cambridgeshire programme’s achievement in bringing fibre broadband within reach of 30,000 premises.
Ed Vaizey was joined by Bill Murphy (Managing Director of Next Generation Access for BT), Kim Mears (Next Generation Access Director of Openreach), local councillors and Connecting Cambridgeshire programme leaders. It was a very exciting time for the village. Spaldwick featured prominently on local TV and in newspapers.
At the time, more than a third of Spaldwick residents had already upgraded. The village demonstrated why installing infrastructure was only part of the challenge. Residents also needed to understand the benefits, select a service and complete the upgrade. The website really helped to “spread the word”.
The visit coincided with the government’s announcement that its national programme had made superfast broadband available to more than one million UK homes and businesses.
October 2014: recognition from the Prime Minister
In October 2014, Mark Heath received a Point of Light award from Prime Minister David Cameron for his voluntary work as Spaldwick’s Broadband Champion.
The official announcement recorded that Mark had encouraged more than 90% of the community to support the campaign and had helped more than 40% of households upgrade within weeks. His work extended beyond campaigning for infrastructure. He helped more than 50 people make better use of the internet, including older residents, and used the village website to publish advice about connections and technical problems.
The Prime Minister described Spaldwick as one of the best-connected communities in the United Kingdom. Ed Vaizey, local MP Shailesh Vara and Cambridgeshire County Councillor Ian Bates also publicly recognised the village campaign.
2015: a nationally recognised digital village
A government digital-inclusion article published in June 2015 said that Spaldwick had become known across Cambridgeshire for its digital record. It highlighted both the high take-up of superfast broadband and the way residents had helped one another gain the skills and confidence to use it.
The achievement was not simply that faster technology reached the village. Spaldwick converted availability into widespread use.
The remaining problem
Fibre-to-the-Cabinet was a significant improvement, but it did not remove copper from the final part of the network. Properties farther from the cabinet could still experience lower speeds and less reliable connections.
As households used more connected devices, streamed higher-quality video and increasingly worked from home, the limitations of the copper connection became more noticeable.
2019 to 2021: the campaign for full fibre
Jason Patel (who had recently moved into the village) and Mark Heath worked together to establish a Community Fibre Partnership with Openreach to bring Fibre-to-the-Premises to Spaldwick.
The project used the government’s Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme. Eligible households and businesses supported the scheme by pledging vouchers, helping to fund construction of the new network.
Connecting Cambridgeshire assisted the local campaign. The village website, newsletters and meetings were again used to explain the proposal and secure sufficient participation. The process took more than 18 months and involved identifying eligible properties, collecting commitments, securing funding and overcoming practical installation challenges.
July and August 2021: full fibre arrives
The installation process was lengthy. Telephone poles throughout the village had to be replaced.
Long lengths of fibre-optic cable were installed in underground ducts. Whether residents received their telephone service by underground cable or a nearby telephone pole, they were able to access full-fibre broadband by the end of the installation process.
The new full-fibre network went live during July and August 2021. Fibre could now run directly to properties across Spaldwick, finally removing dependence on the older copper line for the broadband connection.
The upgrade offered much higher potential speeds and improved reliability. It also gave the village infrastructure suited to home working, education, entertainment, local businesses and future digital services. Full fibre completed an 18-year journey from the first demand campaign to gigabit-capable connectivity.
A community achievement
Spaldwick’s broadband history demonstrates what a small rural community can accomplish through sustained local organisation. Three principles underpinned its success:
- demonstrate demand clearly.
- help residents understand and adopt the new service.
- continue campaigning when the first improvement does not solve every problem.
The result is more than fast broadband. Reliable digital connectivity makes Spaldwick more attractive to families, commuters, home workers and businesses while helping residents remain connected to services, information and one another.
Useful links and sources
Connecting Cambridgeshire: Spaldwick full-fibre case study. The official case study explaining the Community Fibre Partnership, voucher funding, local campaign and 2021 installation.
Ed Vaizey’s visit to Spaldwick. A contemporary report dated 8 August 2014 covering the Minister’s visit, early take-up and the 30,000-premises milestone.
Prime Minister’s Point of Light award. The official government record recognising Mark Heath’s broadband campaigning and digital-inclusion work.
Connecting Cambridgeshire and digital inclusion. A government article describing Spaldwick’s high take-up and community ownership of its digital future.
Spaldwick gains Openreach full fibre. Independent broadband-industry coverage of the village’s 2021 FTTP availability.
One Hundred Years of Spaldwick. The village timeline recording the 2004 broadband launch, the 2014 superfast connection and later digital milestones.
Ofcom broadband and mobile checker. Independent predicted availability and speed information for an individual postcode.
Connecting Cambridgeshire. Current information about broadband, mobile coverage, digital inclusion and connectivity projects across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.
Page last updated: August 2026