Homes and businesses across Wales will no longer be stuck with
slow internet speeds as the UK Government's rollout of gigabit
connectivity races ahead.
Around 37,000 homes and businesses across Wales will no longer be
stuck with slow internet speeds as the UK Government's rollout of
gigabit connectivity races ahead.
Some of the most isolated communities in Wales will benefit from
access to some of the fastest broadband speeds on the market,
gaining better access to services including healthcare at home
through virtual consultations and remote monitoring, as well as
high-quality video calls, which will help pensioners combat
loneliness. It will also support businesses to better grow and
serve their customers online and help young people have a better
start in life through access to online education and the
resources to apply and interview for jobs.
Project Gigabit plays a key role in plans to kickstart economic
growth and break down barriers to opportunity as part of the
Government's Plan for Change. With faster internet speeds across
the country, communities that would otherwise be left behind with
outdated broadband networks will be able to make the most of what
the digital world has to offer.
Rural towns and villages, including Betws-y-Coed,
Llangollen, the Isle of Anglesey in North Wales, as well as
Laugharne, Llangwm and Nantgaredig in South West Wales are set to
gain access to gigabit connection, as a new contract – worth
around £79 million – has been signed by the UK Government and
telecoms provider Openreach.
Telecoms Minister, Sir , said:
For families and businesses across rural Wales, fighting for
bandwidth with neighbours will soon be a thing of the past,
thanks to this UK Government programme bringing
lightning-fast internet to rural areas.
Better broadband will not only enhance the quality of life for
tens of thousands of homes and businesses across rural Wales,
such as in Flintshire and Conwy, but it will also help us put an
end to disparities between urban and rural areas, making Britain
a fairer place for all.
The counties set to benefit from the contracts
include Flintshire, Wrexham, Denbighshire, Conwy, Isle of
Anglesey, and Gwynedd.
The announcement forms part of four new contracts worth over £289
million the government has signed to deliver gigabit-capable
broadband to around 131,000 additional homes and businesses
across England and Wales.
The latest contracts add to the approximately 96,600 premises
already set to benefit under a UK Government agreement with
Openreach, bringing the total so far to around 227,600
premises. The agreement announced in August 2024 will make up to
£800 million of funding available to modernise broadband
infrastructure in rural areas of England, Scotland and Wales,
ending the plight of buffering for many remote communities.
Across the UK, Project Gigabit contracts are now rolling out
gigabit connectivity to over 1.1 million hard-to-reach premises –
a figure that will continue to rise in the months ahead, meeting
the demand for reliable connectivity, stimulating rural economies
and reducing regional disparities.
For households, gigabit-capable broadband delivers faster speeds
and fewer dropouts, providing a gateway to remote working and
online education. Unlike traditional copper-based networks,
gigabit connections won't slow down at peak times, meaning no
more battling for bandwidth with neighbours. Gigabit networks can
easily handle over a hundred devices all at once with no
buffering, meaning the whole family can seamlessly surf, stream
and download at the same time.
Welsh Secretary said:
Powered by this UK Government investment, thousands more people
and businesses across Wales will have access to ultra-fast
broadband.
Our top priority is to drive sustained economic growth. To
achieve this, it is vital that every part of Wales has full
coverage quickly as possible to boost productivity in all our
communities.
Across the UK, over one million hard-to-reach premises already
have access to upgrades thanks to UK Government investment. Over
85 per cent of the country can now access gigabit connections,
putting the UK in a strong position to meet the government's
target of full gigabit coverage by 2030.
Dozens of Project Gigabit contracts representing more than £2.2
billion investment have now been signed with over 10 different
suppliers to deliver the upgrades, including many smaller,
independent broadband providers.
Openreach CEO Clive Selley, said:
Our new Full Fibre broadband network now reaches more than half
of all properties in the UK, and we're confident we can reach as
many as 30 million premises by the end of the decade, assuming
the right regulatory and investment conditions exist. This is a
British infrastructure success story which experts say will boost
productivity by £73 billion and bring a raft of social and
environmental benefits for the country. We believe that everyone
deserves access to fast and reliable broadband, and we're proud
that this partnership will help extend our ultrafast,
ultra-reliable network to areas that would otherwise be left
behind by the private sector.
