The Welsh government has initiated a new project dubbed ‘the Superfast Infill Project’ which aims to extend superfast broadband reach in parts of the country which remained uncovered under the existing rollout.
The project, funded by the UK government’s Broadband Delivery UK, will initially focus on businesses in Wales that were missed out by commercial broadband rollouts or by Superfast Cymru, a partnership initiative by the Welsh Government and BT.
Deputy Minister for Skills and Technology Julie James said “Superfast Cymru is making excellent progress bringing fast fibre broadband to parts of Wales which would not otherwise benefit. Without it large parts of Wales would be without access to fast fibre broadband.”
“Despite the huge scale of the Superfast Cymru programme a small proportion of premises are not covered by it or the commercial roll-out as identified by the review we have carried out. We are committed to bringing fast fibre coverage across Wales and the Infill Project is part of this work.”
The announcement of the new broadband project comes in wake of the Welsh government’s target of rolling out superfast broadband to 690,000 Welsh premises – or 96 per cent of the total – by spring 2016.
Meanwhile, the Digital Economy Minister Ed Vaizey has revealed that the Superfast Cymru initiative has hit the halfway mark and has brought around 345,000 homes and businesses within reach of super-fast broadband.
“345,000 premises have gained coverage as a result of the Superfast Cymru broadband programme which has funding from the UK government, Welsh Government and European funds,” Vaizey stated.
