Pembrokeshire communities in line for ultrafast broadband

Openreach has announced a further 15 communities which have been identified as rural areas which could benefit from better internet.

The company is encouraging people who live and work in these areas to apply apply to the UK Government to bring ultrafast, ultra-reliable full fibre broadband to local homes and businesses.

The areas include Broad Haven, Carew, Dinas Cross and Lamphey.

Elsewhere, the other communities include Rhydlewis in Ceredigion, Ferryside and Pendine in Carmarthenshire, Llyswen in Powys, Beddgelert and Llandderfel in Gwynedd, Bodorgan and Llangoed in Ynys Môn, Dolgarrog in Conwy, Tredunnock in Monmouthshire, and Wick in the Vale of Glamorgan.

These latest areas mean that a total of 30 communities across Wales have been identified as being able to benefit from the scheme – covering nearly 17,000 properties.

People in these areas are able to apply for free for UK Government broadband vouchers. Once enough people apply, the areas will join the nearly 800,000 homes and businesses across Wales who already have access to full fibre broadband.

Residents can check if they qualify and pledge their voucher on the Connect My Community website.

Martin Williams, director of partnerships for Openreach in Wales, said: “This is a really exciting opportunity for the people of these nine locations to bring all the benefits of ultrafast, ultra-reliable full fibre broadband to their community.

“Our Fibre Community Partnership programme has meant that we’ve been able to potentially bring hundreds more communities across the UK, into our Full Fibre build plans. But building out the network to these harder to reach locations is still challenging – which is why its only possible with everyone working together  – you, your neighbours and Openreach.

“Everyone who pledges a voucher will be doing their bit to help make their community one of the best-connected places in the UK.”

“We’re investing £15 billion to build full fibre broadband to 25 million homes – and more than six million of those will be in the toughest third of the UK – but we can’t upgrade the whole country alone. This latest support from government is a vital part of that process.”

Once the pledge target for the scheme is reached, residents need to ensure they then validate their vouchers with the Government so that Openreach can confirm that building work can get underway. As part of the funding conditions residents are asked to commit to ordering a full fibre service from a provider of their choice for at least 12 months once the new network is available, and confirm that they are connected.

Full fibre technology provides more reliable, resilient and future-proof connectivity; meaning fewer faults; more predictable, consistent speeds and enough capacity to easily meet growing data demands. It's also future-proof, which means it will serve generations to come and won’t need to be upgraded for decades.

Fibre optics - strands of glass around one-tenth the thickness of a human hair - transmit data using light signals. Fibre is smaller, lighter and more durable than copper cabling and less vulnerable to damage.

You can find out more at openreach.com.