Royal Welsh Showground gets Superfast
Exhibitors and visitors to this year’s Royal Welsh Show will be able to enjoy superfast internet speeds following the installation of high-speed fibre broadband throughout the showground.
Connecting the popular Llanelwedd showground with a fibre broadband cabinet is the latest installation as part of the Superfast Cymru programme, which when combined with commercial roll-outs, will aim to provide 96% of premises across Wales with fibre broadband by 2016.
The Royal Welsh Agricultural Society hopes that the superior internet speeds will also be used to provide free WiFi spots around the showground during the Royal Welsh Show later this month, going a little way to help ease the congestion of the mobile phone signal during that incredibly busy week.
The knock-on effect of these developments at the showground means that the local area benefits too.
“Having superfast broadband installed at the showground very exciting and as a local person, I am really pleased that this upgrade will benefit the Society, our visitors and the local area.” says Steve Hughson, Chief Executive of the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society. “Ensuring businesses and homes in mid Wales have access to new technology advances is essential to keeping our local economy buoyant and our communities alive.”
Welcoming this announcement, Deputy Minister for Skills, Ken Skates, said: “The Royal Welsh Show is a major event in the Welsh calendar, regularly attracting over 200,000 visitors from Wales and much further afield. I am pleased that
Superfast Cymru is now delivering superfast broadband to the showground, demonstrating how Wales is becoming a digital nation
”Superfast Cymru is an ambitious programme, providing fast fibre broadband to areas which otherwise would not benefit from this resource which is increasingly important. By the end of this programme in Spring 2016, Wales will be one of the most connected countries in the world.
“Today’s announcement is good news not only for the show, its organisers and participants but also for the local community – as fast fibre broadband is available for them also.”
Ann Beynon, BT Director Wales, said: “The Royal Welsh is one of the most prestigious events of its type in Europe and I’m delighted that we’ve been able to install superfast fibre broadband to this venue for the first time as part of the Superfast Cymru programme.”
“ High speed access to the internet is an important part of everyday life and providing this capability at the shop window for farming in Wales is great news for an important sector in our country.
“ We’re really looking forward to continuing to deliver high speed broadband across Wales over the next couple of years”.
“ I’m also delighted that we’re delivering this on time thanks to the dedication of hundreds of BT engineers working incredibly hard on what is an enormous project.”
Superfast Cymru is the largest partnership of its kind in the UK. It is working to achieve, when combined with commercial roll-outs, the Welsh Government’s aim of providing 96% of premises in Wales with access to fast fibre broadband by the end of Spring 2016.
BT has invested £220m along with £205m from Welsh Government, UK Government and the European Regional Development Fund in ensuring Wales gets world class high speed broadband coverage by the end of Spring 2016.
Information about the roll-out is published on the Superfast Cymru website (www.superfast-cymru.com) including a coverage map which provides details of roll-out plans looking approximately 12 months ahead.
The Royal Welsh will start on 21 July until the 24 and attracts more than 240,000 visitors every year, over 8,000 livestock entries and over 1,300 trade stands.
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Notes
For information about which exchange areas are already enabled go to the coverage map onhttp://www.superfast-cymru.com/where-and-when
The latest images of the Superfast Cymru roll-out are available for download at:http://imagelibrary.btplc.com/assetbank-btplc/action/browseItems?categoryId=597&categoryTypeId=1
About the Welsh Government and Superfast Cymru
The Welsh Government is the devolved Government for Wales. We are working to help improve the lives of people in Wales and make our nation a better place in which to live and work.
The Welsh Government and BT are working in partnership on the 'Superfast Cymru' programme to develop a nationwide superfast broadband infrastructure.
Superfast Cymru will boost commercial roll-out and help the Welsh Government achieve its target to deliver high speed fibre broadband to 96% of homes and businesses in Wales by 2016.
Superfast Cymru is set to transform the broadband landscape in Wales and to promote economic growth and sustainable jobs in Wales. We have estimated that up to 2,500 further full times jobs could be created throughout the Welsh economy over time. It will ensure we are at the forefront of the global digital economy and help to champion Wales as a great place to live, work, invest and visit.
About Superfast Britain
Superfast Britain is a UK Government programme of investment in broadband and communication infrastructure across the UK. Run by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, this investment helps businesses to grow, creates jobs and will make Britain more competitive in the global race. The portfolio is comprised of three elements
• £780m to extend superfast broadband to 95% of the UK by 2017
• £150m to provide high speed broadband to businesses in 22 cities
• £150m to improve quality and coverage of mobile phone and basic data network services
Administered on behalf of Government by Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK), Superfast Britain is transforming Britain by promoting growth, enabling skills and learning, and improving quality of life.
For further information: https://www.gov.uk/broadband-delivery-uk
