Welsh Government Praises Progress of Local Broadband Fund UPDATE

The Welsh Government has today issued a progress update on their Local Broadband Fund (LBF), which was launched in 2020 and has so far allocated £12m – across four funding phases – to help local authorities and social enterprises to deliver faster broadband networks to areas and sites that need it (i.e. those unable to access speeds of 30Mbps+ today).

For example, three adult residential care homes in Newport, including Parklands Care Home, now have gigabit-capable full-fibre broadband for the first time as a result of the LBF. Meanwhile, in the Vale of Glamorgan, high-speed local broadband of up to 100Mbps is now available at popular sites like the Cosmeston Lakes Country Park and the Glamorgan Heritage Coast.

Additionally, 17 public sector sites in North Wales – including rural libraries and community councils – now have Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) connections with active download speeds of at least 80Mbps and up to gigabit territory.

In Cardiff, an early phase of 83 premises are now connected with gigabit capable speeds. The next phase is underway and working to deliver similar connectivity to a further 632 premises. This project also provides “free for life” gigabit-capable broadband to 15 community centres spaces, supporting local initiatives and educational programmes.

Rebecca Evans, Cabinet Secretary for the Economy, said:

“Fast and reliable broadband is essential for our communities and businesses. The Local Broadband Fund has already made a real difference, delivering tangible improvements to businesses, public services, and communities across Wales. By expanding digital access, we’re helping to create new opportunities for economic growth, employment, and education, as well as enhancing the quality of life for residents.”

The broadband expansion is ongoing and several projects are set to complete by March 2025 in Monmouthshire, Neath Port Talbot, Carmarthenshire, and Powys. But curiously, the announcement doesn’t mention earlier builds that have also been supported by investment from the LBF, such as extending the existing community FTTP build in Michaelston y Fedw (here) etc.

UPDATE 5th October 2024

Some additional details were recently revealed about the LBF, which was in a response to a question tabled within the Welsh Parliament.

Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Planning

The Welsh Government’s Local Broadband Fund (LBF) is aimed at local authorities and social enterprises to help local communities get access to fast broadband. It aims to encourage innovation, building on the work already underway across Wales.

To date just over £4.6 million of the available £12million has been claimed from the LBF. Further funding of over £7 million has been committed across the 12 schemes.

The bids received from local authorities and social enterprises predominantly seek to address premises and communities that have, for some reason or another, proven to be a challenge for the industry and other public funded schemes to address and where devising solutions focussed on gigabit capable services may not be possible. The aim of the LBF is not only to directly enable access to faster broadband but also to improve connectivity and to build infrastructure resilience. For example, the funding has allowed the Michaelston y Fedw community led broadband project to house their equipment in a secure data centre and lay point to point fibre direct from the data centre to the community. This means the community’s broadband connections are now fully secure, future proofed and have the ability of offering 10Gbps connections.

The scheme has delivered gigabit access to 153 premises to date, with a further 632 gigabit capable premises in the pipeline and has delivered superfast broadband at sub-gigabit speeds to 125 premises, with a further 693 premises in the pipeline.