Carmarthenshire, a predominantly rural part of Wales, is proud to announce a significant milestone in its journey to getting better broadband. 60% of homes and businesses in the county can now access full fibre broadband compared to 25% in 2021.
This achievement is no mean feat, with many hard-to-reach places now benefitting from faster, more reliable broadband. This milestone is the result of successful, close collaborations led by the local authority’s Digital Champions who have continuously engaged with various stakeholders, including Alternative Network providers (AltNets)Voneus and WeFibre, mainstream providers such as Openreach, as well as with communities to ensure they are aware of the benefits of being better connected and the ways in which they can make that happen.
By fostering the programme’s ‘connectivity through collaboration’ ethos, Carmarthenshire has made every effort in enhancing its digital infrastructure to ensure reliable connectivity for its residents and businesses.
Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Leisure, Culture and Tourism – Cllr Hazel Evans said:
This is a huge leap in progress for a county that has many harder to reach areas. It’s encouraging to see so many more people now have the improved connectivity needed to ensure that they are able to thrive both socially and economically and I’m confident that we shall take this much further to achieve a fully digital inclusive Carmarthenshire in the future.”
The success of this 60% milestone in Carmarthenshire not only offers more social and economic benefits for its residents, but also enables scope for additional inward investment through the adoption of emerging technology in key sectors such as tourism and agriculture.
Working closely with the UK Government’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and the Welsh Government on funding streams, Carmarthenshire’s digital team has been able to facilitate a high level of support for digital infrastructure projects, whilst empowering communities to actively advocate for improved connectivity in their areas.
Much of the behind the scenes work within Carmarthenshire County Council has been an integral part of reaching this milestone, close working relationships with supportive community and county councillors, planning, infrastructure, and highways departments within the council, all contributing to the successful delivery of projects.
Simon Davies, Head of Economic Development and Property at Carmarthenshire County Council said,
Making the 60% full fibre milestone in the county is a fantastic achievement and one that wouldn’t have been possible without the dedication of our Digital Champions as well as the numerous internal departments that work collaboratively to make the plans for better broadband a reality. Working closely with the Digital Infrastructure Team, I’m certain that we will be increasing that percentage in the very near future again and ensuring that no one is left behind.
Carmarthenshire’s journey to improve digital inclusion has already made a definitive, positive impact by reaching the 60% mark. The Digital Infrastructure Programme team have their sights firmly on improving that even further, through collaborations with UK Government initiatives such as Project Gigabit, making Carmarthenshire a leading digital county, that will help its businesses and communities prosper.
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