Carmarthenshire benefits from new broadband roll-out

CARMARTHENSHIRE County Council has welcomed a large Openreach broadband roll-out as a positive step forward in helping more communities and businesses become digitally connected.

Openreach, part of the BT Group, has announced it will be investing in a number of full fibre ultrafast developments across the country, with many areas across Carmarthenshire set to benefit.

Areas including Abergwili, Bronwydd, Burry Port, Carmarthen, Cwmffrwd, Capel Hendre, Carmel, Cwmgwili, Cefneithin, Cross Hands, Croesyceiliog, Drefach, Hendy, Idole, Llanedi, Llanon, Penygroes, Pembrey and Tumble have been listed for the investment.

The county council has committed to supporting improved digital connectivity across Carmarthenshire, in particular in rural areas where some communities are still receiving poor – if not any – digital services.

Cllr Emlyn Dole, Leader of the council, and Cllr Cefin Campbell, Executive Board Member for Communities, said they welcomed the Openreach investment and hoped it would act as a catalyst for further developments in areas where it is needed the most.

“We understand Carmarthenshire is one of the biggest beneficiaries of this Openreach investment to roll out fibre broadband across 19 of our communities, and this is as a direct result of our continued lobbying for improved connectivity in our communities,” said Cllr Dole.

“Whilst this is undoubtedly good news, there are many more areas that are in desperate need for investment and we will continue working behind the scenes to help make that happen.”

Cllr Campbell added: “We are grateful to Openreach for investing in Carmarthenshire. We very much hope that where they lead, others will follow, and we would welcome discussions to drive forward our commitment to supporting more communities, in particular our rural communities, to benefit from good digital infrastructure.

“With more and more services going online, having access to good quality broadband is now a necessity for homes and businesses.”

Carmarthenshire is one of five Welsh counties to benefit from the Openreach investment.

Connie Dixon, Openreach’s partnership director for Wales, said: “This is great news for people living and working in Wales and builds on Openreach’s strong track record of working in rural areas, for years playing a key role alongside the Welsh Government to upgrade nearly 95 per cent of Wales to superfast broadband.

“Today’s announcement is about taking that next step and building a full fibre network that is not only faster, but also more reliable and future-proof for generations to come.”