Wales Office
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- Around 37,000 hard-to-reach premises across Wales stuck with slow broadband to gain access to lightning-fast speeds,helping to break down barriers to opportunity and giving people better access to vital online services such as healthcare and education.
- New UK Government contracts worth around 79 million signed to bring gigabit-capable networks to more remote areas across North and South West Wales
- Funding forms part of the UK Governments mission to end the plight of poor broadband across Great Britain with work already underway to bring upgrades to over one million premises.
Around 37,000 homes and businesses across Wales will no longer be stuck with slow internet speeds as the UK Governments 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 Governments 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 With faster internet speeds across the country, communities that would otherwise be left behind with outdated broadband networks will be able to make the most of what the digital world has to offer.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, includingBetws-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 Chris Bryant, 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 programmebringing 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 includeFlintshire, 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 UKGovernment 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 wont 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 Jo Stevens said:
Powered by this UK Government investment, thousands more people and businesses across Wales will have access to ultra-fast broadband.
Our toppriority 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 governments 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 were 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 were proud that this partnership will help extend our ultrafast, ultra-reliable network to areas that would otherwise be left behind by the private sector.