07 April 2022

More than 600 public services across north and south Wales can now access greater internet speeds as a result of a £11.5m UK government levelling-up fund.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said it has connected full-fibre broadband to 620 sites across Wales as part of Westminster’s agenda to level up public services.

The rollout is the largest public sector broadband project in Wales and it is hoped commercial broadband providers will be incentivised to upgrade surrounding homes and businesses using the government-funded gigabit network - a cheaper and quicker alternative than starting from the beginning.

Local services including hospitals, police stations, libraries, and care homes can now access internet speeds of more than one gigabit (1,000 megabits) per second.

A total of 166 public sites were connected in the Cardiff Capital Region. Elsewhere, Pembrokeshire saw 68 public sites connected, while in north Wales full-fibre was rolled out to 311 public buildings in areas like Betws-y-Coed, Rhyl and Llandudno.

Sharad Sharma, vice president head of networks at IT service and consulting company NTT Data UK, said “it’s great to see the public sector receiving the benefits of full fibre broadband” as part of the UK government’s levelling up strategy. “Vital services in Wales will now benefit from faster connectivity, enabling better patient care in hospitals, faster response times from emergency services workers and more reliable services in libraries and other public spaces,” Sharma added. “As adoption of full fibre broadband and 5G continues to grow, it’s vital that no one is left behind. In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and the shift towards more remote and online services, we can no longer afford to have public services relying on inefficient and ineffective broadband.”