Rural

Better broadband for our hardest to reach premises

We have seen a significant amount of both public and private sector investment to improve connectivity across our region. However, according to the Open Market Review 2021 (OMR) we still have 16,858 premises that don’t have access to decent broadband and are not in commercial plans to be upgraded by 2025. We are working with suppliers, UK and Welsh Government to address this issue in a number of ways:

• Our digital champions are working with suppliers to accelerate, facilitate and support their planned commercial rollout. Next Generation Infrastructure Managers are available to liaise between suppliers and internal departments to ensure that any issues are identified and resolved as quickly as possible.
• Our Support and Engagement Officers continue to provide much needed support to communities and businesses to help them access better broadband through voucher schemes and other government funding interventions.
• We are working with UK Government to support Project Gigabit, their flagship £5 billion programme to enable hard-to-reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit-capable broadband.
• We are working with Welsh Government to align our plans to tackling the very hardest to reach premises in the region.

If you need advice on getting better broadband, please get in touch with your local Digital Infrastructure Support and Engagement officer. If you’d like to talk to us about our planned investment to support homes and businesses to access better broadband, please email digital@swanseabaycitydeal.wales.