It is a last resort.

For all the customers and would-be customers who curse the arrival of local high speed internet provider Truespeed, the CEO James Lowther says he is sorry but for super fast supply sometimes digging up the road is the only way.

Nub News went to find out more about the shocking pink brand, broadband provider Truespeed, which is just expanding into XXXX

Sitting down with Truespeed CEO James Lowther, Nub News discovers how they build the network, why digging is always a last resort and how the community-focused company is transforming connectivity by investing millions into the region.

The company started in 2014 in the South West.

" Now over a fifth of customers in those areas who CAN get Truespeed do get us in, " said James. " I think that is a sign that when we promise high speeds, that is what we deliver. No if's and but's and that's what matters. We are a COMPLETELY different network, from the ground up. "

The boss has been part of the world of telecoms for the past 18 years - why ?

" Telecoms is genuinely really exciting, " James tells us. " It's not just cables in a road, connectivity is vital in everyday life. Whether it's being used for work, family life or entertainment it's become increasingly more essential especially post-pandemic. During the pandemic, everyone was at home so people's only connection to the outside world was via the internet. Truespeed is a fundamental underpinning of modern society and how we function today, so the chance to be a part of enabling that for people is really exciting.

" Streaming TV, video conferencing, commerce, it all needs fast, reliable broadband and that is where we come in." Alright but why do you have to dig up the roads for that ?

" Well the first thing to say is that we only dig when we can't use any existing infrastructure, so any kind of ducting already there that we can use, we use that. We use the existing poles if they are there, we only dig up the road if we absolutely have to, as a last resort.

" The problem is that the existing infrastructure in this country is so antiquated and we are rolling out a brand new network from scratch. A lot of copper cables buried in the ground were put there in the 50s, 60s and sometimes 1970s, and there is no ducting or any other way to get any cabling to your home.

" So if you want ultrafast speeds that are truly reliable, sometimes your only option is to dig. We try to keep disruption to a minimum and endeavour to work as fast as possible and do it all in one go. But sometimes digging is the only way to deliver the network. We are also working with local developers to try and make sure cabling and ducting go in before new housing developments start, but that can only happen in new build homes.

"But we try to keep trenching as narrow as possible too, again, it is all about delivering on our promise, guaranteed speed, full-fibre broadband."

Tell us how lives are changing

" Every year people are consuming more and more of the internet, usage is growing by around 40 per cent per year. " James explains. " That will just keep growing although my personal view and the way we work here at Truespeed, is that our lives are a hybrid mix.

"People can work fully remotely, and here at Truespeed many of our team work from home. But then to share ideas and work together, we also get people into the office as I think we need that human interaction too. You can work on the other side of the world, but equally, I like that balance when you can have in-person meetings. You can still use a whiteboard together, but you are not tied to it. "

Truespeed is growing as fast as the speeds it offers

James, who lives in Bath, is committed to leading a local company with local hires and a commitment to offering jobs across the board.

He said: " We have been growing like crazy. I started December 2021 and we had 140 people, as of today we have 275 people working at Truespeed. The jobs we have been growing are across a wide range of skills, from in-house network designers, financial service, network planning to customer service roles. We have REAL people answering the phones - and we have a target to answer every call in 30 seconds."

The company is bringing on its own trainee schemes and is also considering hiring apprentices, all based from desks in an office in central Bath.

" Our plan is to stay right here (in Bath), " said James, " It is really good access to the wider South West and is one of the key attributes in why people decide to work for us, we are not based in the middle of nowhere."

So why should people choose Truespeed ?

Two reasons, says James:

"First it is a brand new fibre optic network. A lot of people have been told for years that they will get high speed broadband but they simply don't. They have fibre to the cabinet and then it is copper the rest of the way. Ofcom is currently changing the rules to stop companies calling it a fibre product and making all those promises which companies can't deliver, but right now, high speed often means nothing of the sort.

"Truespeed is a genuinely brand new product. People may have tried fibre in the past and not found it much different because it wasn't real fibre. So ours is a genuine, full-fibre to the property product that delivers guaranteed speeds and around the clock reliability.

"Second, we put focus and pride in doing things differently. We are local company, and we make promises we keep. At the moment all the big telecom companies are putting through eye-watering price rises mid-contract, but we froze our prices last year and this year too. That is not to say prices won't have to rise, but we are not going to hide behind promises we don't keep.

"We have said we will never do any sneaky in-contract price rises and we mean it. We have committed to great customer service and unlike the big broadband providers, you will not get bounced around and then never get to talk to a human being. We are full and transparent with what we do - the main promise being we will bring you those speeds we say we'll deliver. The others use the wholesale network - what they are doing is basically reselling the existing product and your speeds will just be the same slow ones. "

Look for the pink

A final thought from a CEO who, if you saw the cinema advert, will not confirm, or deny, he may have a dance streak (!)

" Our colour scheme is bright pink and that is partly to make us stand out from the other broadband providers. It symbolises that we are different, and we want to stand out from the pack, not just in terms of the quality of the broadband, but genuinely in our way of doing things differently. We want people to sit up and take notice"