History

It is unclear whether this 1980s route was ever operational as planned. The intention was to provide additional cross-channel capacity with new link between Dover and Boulogne - by this stage it is likely the link between Tolsford Hill and Fiennes could not be expanded further. A 1985 BT Radio Systems document shows RS 10/71 as a Thomson CSF 140 Mbit/s digital system operating at 11 GHz "Archers Cr - Boulogne 1986". This suggests arrangements for the cross-channel section had been finalised.

The inland section was planned to run from London (BT Tower) via a new route to Dover. To avoid conflict with existing links the plan was to head east then south east. An early option had the first intermediate site near Chatham - this was revised to use an existing Pye/Phillips site near Basildon. A new site was required on high ground north of Canterbury and a tower would be added at the Archers Court telephone exchange near Whitfield, Dover. Planning applications were submitted in 1984 for the three sites. The new site at Rough Common and the tower at Archers Court were completed but approval of the development at Westley Heights was delayed until 1993.

There is no obvious evidence a dish at BT Tower facing Westley Heights. It seems most likely a cable or fibre connection between London and Archers Court was provided to allow the cross-channel section to be used on an interim basis but we have no information to confirm this.

The three sites have been used in various combinations as part of High Frequency Trading links between the UK and Europe, with large dishes installed in the early 2010s. As the objective has been to reduce latency by using the shortest possible path and fewest intermediate stations, these links tend to use a mixture of sites. One example runs from a short tower at an electricity sub-station, east of Westley Heights, via a water tower on the Isle of Sheppey to reach Rough Common, continuing via Archers Court and reaching France near Escalles. The same company operates a single-hop link from Westley Heights to a site near Folkestone (75 km).