Superfast broadband speeds available to more than 99 per cent of homes and businesses in Ffestiniog

Superfast broadband is now available to more than 99 per cent of homes and businesses in the Ffestiniog exchange area thanks to the Superfast Cymru programme, Deputy Minister for Skills and Technology Julie James has said.

In addition, more than 85 per cent of premises in the nearby Blaenau Ffestiniog exchange area can also take advantage of the many benefits of faster online speeds.

At home, superfast broadband allows everyone in the household to do their own thing online, all at the same time, from streaming high definition films and downloading larger files such as music albums to gaming and keeping in touch with friends and family.

Superfast broadband also enables businesses to develop and grow, compete in international markets and attract new customers.

Superfast Cymru is a partnership between the Welsh Government and BT, with additional funding from Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

It is bringing superfast broadband speeds to areas which would otherwise not receive it.No exchange area in Gwynedd was due to receive superfast broadband from the rollout by private sector companies as it was not deemed commercially viable for them alone to provide it.

Across Gwynedd, Superfast Cymru has already supplied more than 45,000 homes and businesses with access to superfast broadband through a mixture of Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) and Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) superfast broadband technology.

Deputy Minister for Skills and Technology, Julie James, said: “It’s great news more than 99 per cent of homes and business in the Ffestiniog exchange area and 85 per cent in the Blaenau Ffestiniog exchange area can now access superfast broadband thanks to Superfast Cymru.

“These excellent figures are a testament to the hard work of engineers and work is continuing to provide access to even more premises in these areas.

“Gwynedd is one of the local authorities in Wales, which would have no access to superfast broadband without the intervention of Superfast Cymru. We have intervened to provide access to superfast services as private sector companies decided it was not commercially viable for them alone to roll-out fibre in these areas.

“We want to see Wales as one of the world’s most connected digital nations and the Superfast Cymru programme is playing a vital role in making that vision a reality.”

Ed Hunt, BT programme director for Superfast Cymru, said: “Superfast broadband is having a huge impact on the way we live our lives in Wales.

“When combined with BT’s commercial roll-out, we’ve already provided more than 1.24 million Welsh homes and businesses with access to high-speed fibre broadband and we look forward to working with our partners to extend this even further across the country.

“As we continue to build the infrastructure we would urge people to take advantage of this technology and sign up with a broadband service provider.”

The regulator Ofcom recognised that Wales has the highest availability of superfast broadband of any of the devolved nations**.

The Superfast Cymru programme is a huge undertaking that will involve laying 17,500kms of optical fibre cable, installing around 3,000 new green roadside cabinets and sees, on average, more than 100 premises getting access to superfast broadband across Wales every hour.

To find out whether they can receive superfast broadband households and businesses can visit www.superfast-cymru.com.

If households and businesses are able to receive superfast broadband, it will not happen automatically and they should contact their Internet Service Provider (ISP) to upgrade.

The Welsh Government also provides grants for businesses to have Ultrafast broadband with up to £10,000 available for the installation of the services.Homes and businesses which cannot receive superfast broadband through Superfast Cymru can also receive grants to have superfast broadband in other ways, such as satellite.Further details on these schemes are available on: gov.wales/broadband.