Billionaire H&M founder Stefan Persson gets his staff to dig two-mile trench to bring superfast broadband to his village
He was quoted £170,000 fee by BT Openreach, so his manor employees dug and laid cables across his 10,000-acre Ramsbury Estate in Wiltshire and also connected nearby residents in Axford
A BILLIONAIRE got his staff to dig a two-mile trench to bring superfast broadband to his village.
H&M fashion chain owner Stefan Persson was quoted a £170,000 fee by BT Openreach.
So his manor employees dug and laid cables across his 10,000-acre Ramsbury Estate in Wiltshire and also connected nearby residents in Axford.
The work, which took two weeks, knocked £90,000 off the bill.
Estate manager Alistair Ewing said: “We have appalling broadband speed so we approached BT with a couple of villagers and asked what it would cost to put a system in.
“They quoted £170,000.
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“We decided it was not acceptable so we did all the trenching and laying.”
They hope BT will complete the link from neighbouring Aldbourne, which already has faster internet, in the spring.
Local cllr Diann Barnett said: “We will now have broadband and it is all down to him — 77 houses will get it at a cost of about £600 each.”