Major high-speed broadband milestones for Swansea and for Wales
Availability of fibre broadband reaches half a million premises in Wales and 50,000 in Swansea;
news welcomed by South Wales West Assembly Member Byron Davies
High-speed fibre broadband is now available to more than half a million homes and businesses in Wales and 50,000 in the City and County of Swansea, BT announced today.
The twin milestones were reached as Gorseinon became the latest community to benefit from the superfast revolution.
More than 3,000 premises in Gorseinon now have access to the technology and this will increase to more than 5,000 once engineering work is completed.
Gorseinon follows more than fifty towns and cities in Wales, including Neath which also went live recently, already benefiting from BT’s £2.5 billion commercial fibre roll-out programme.
This programme is in addition to the Welsh Government and BT’s ambitious Superfast Cymru project which will help the Welsh Government achieve its aim of taking fibre broadband to 96 per cent of Welsh homes and businesses in 2016.
Byron Davies, Assembly Member for South Wales West, said: “This is terrifically welcome news for Swansea. BT’s investment in the city will provide an important kick-start for our local economy.’
“I know from meeting with small businesses and residents across Swansea and Gower that connection, reliability and speed are an issue and this investment will go a long way to solving that problem.”
Ann Beynon, BT director for Wales, added: “Passing the 50,000 mark is a significant milestone in Swansea’s development as a city very much at the forefront of the high-speed communications revolution. BT’s already extensive fibre network in Swansea continues to expand bringing a real boost for the local economy.
“As many households and businesses in the Swansea area and across Wales have already discovered, fibre broadband is a technology that opens up a whole new world to them. Whatever you’re doing online, you can do it better and faster with fibre.”
At home, fibre broadband enables a family to simultaneously download a movie, watch a TV replay service, surf the internet and play games online all at the same time. A whole album can be downloaded in less than 30 seconds and a feature length HD movie in less than 10 minutes, whilst high-resolution photos can be uploaded to Facebook in seconds.
Unlike other companies, Openreach offers fibre broadband access to all service providers on an open, wholesale basis, underpinning a competitive market. For further information on Openreach’s fibre broadband programme visit www.superfast-openreach.co.uk
ENDS
Notes to editors
Due to the current network topography, and the economics of deployment, it is likely that some premises within selected exchange areas will not initially be able to access fibre-based broadband. Openreach is considering alternative solutions for these locations.
