Original article Total Telecom:Read More
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The project forms part of a broader regional strategy to close the digital divide and improve digital infrastructure across the Swansea Bay City Region
BT, in partnership with Openreach, has been awarded a £9.8 million contract to deliver full fibre to more than 1,700 premises across Southwest Wales, as part of the Swansea Bay City Deal’s Better Broadband Infill Project.
The project targets properties that cannot access broadband speeds above 30Mbps and that fall outside of commercial deployments or national government schemes such as Project Gigabit.
The rollout will bring full fibre to 1,533 homes and businesses, along with a further 256 community and public sector sites across Pembrokeshire, Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, and Carmarthenshire. Many of these locations are in rural or hard-to-reach areas, which are deemed economically unviable for deployment.
Deployment will begin this month, with the first connections expected by December 2025. The build will continue in six phases, with full completion scheduled by March 2027.
“This project is a game changer for our region. By bringing high speed internet to areas that have been left behind, we are not only improving quality of life but also opening up new opportunities for economic and social development,” said Cllr. Rob Stewart, leader of Swansea Council and chair of the Swansea Bay City Deal Joint Committee. “Access to reliable broadband is no longer a luxury; it’s a necessity. This project will ensure that everyone in the Swansea Bay region can participate fully in the digital age.”
“The Better Broadband Infill Project will improve services for thousands of people across the Swansea Bay City Region, who will benefit from state-of-the-art connectivity even in hard-to-reach areas,” echoed Susi Marston, head of public sector Wales at BT.
This regional initiative complements Openreach’s wider work under Project Gigabit programme, which is targeting 290,000 hard-to-reach premises across the UK. This week, it has begun delivering full fibre broadband to homes and in some of the hardest to reach locations in the country.
In August last year, Swansea Bay City Deal awarded a new dark fibre contract to VMO2 Business, which will see new fibre infrastructure rolled out to 36 public sector sites in Swansea and Neath Port Talbot.
The network, which will be fully available by December, will provide these sites with a major boost in capacity and data transfer speeds.
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