Following a suggestion from Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Chris Millington in March last year, new signs on the way in to Harlow now welcome visitors to Harlow "Birthplace of optical fibre communication".

There are six new signs in total - one near the Gibberd Garden, one on the A1184 from Sawbridgeworth, one on the A414 near the Hastingwood roundabout, one on the way to Jacks Hatch, on the Roydon Road near East End Farm, and one on the A414 after the Eastwick roundabout.

The development of optical fibre, for use in telecommunications including the internet, began at STL, which later became Nortel.