80 Percent of Wales Can Now Get 30Mbps Superfast Broadband

An independent study of broadband Internet connectivity in Wales has claimed that 80% of premises in the country should now have access to a superfast connection (30Mbps+), which rises to 81.3% when you use the Government’s definition of 24Mbps+. But rural areas still have a long way to go.

The data from Thinkbroadband appears to broadly support Ofcom’s recent update (here), which similarly found that 79% could access 30Mbps+ and this climbs to 87% for the raw footprint of next generation broadband services (i.e. the 87% also includes areas that have been upgraded, but which can’t get “superfast” speeds on the new network).

A lot of the upgrades have been completed by the private sector (e.g. BT and Virgin Media), although more recently a lot of the expansion has come from the state aid fuelled Superfast Cymru project and the linked Broadband Delivery UK programme.

The project is currently working with BT to make faster “fibre broadband” (FTTC/P) services available to 96% of Wales by the end of 2016 (691,000 premises) and a new deal was recently signed that should add another 42,000 homes and businesses to that total by June 2017 (here). So far around 500,000 of the target has been completed and take-up in related areas stands at about 15.6%, with the goal being 50% by 2024.

As a side note it’s estimated that 0.8% of premises in Wales (around 10,000 premises) are only able to get a sluggish download speed of sub-2Mbps, which the Government are aiming to plug “by 2016” (i.e. the 2Mbps for all Universal Service Commitment); although that will most likely be resolved via a less than ideal Satellite subsidy scheme.

The map itself is broken into Parliamentary Constituencies and the total coverage is a clear improvement, although equally it’s painfully clear that many rural constituencies still have a lot of work to do. It’s also worth pointing out that most premises exist in the more urban areas, like Cardiff in the south, which has a big impact upon the total. Sorry for the yellow text on light background, but that wasn’t our choice.