Rural Wales Broadband ISP Ogi Opens 8th Round of Community Fund

Infracapital-backed network builder and UK ISP Ogi, which is investing £245m into the deployment of a new Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network across South Wales, has confirmed that they’ve opened up their “Cefnogi” local community support fund for an 8th round of projects.

The operator has so far covered a total of 100,000 premises RFS (4th Jan 2024) with their full fibre (FTTP) broadband network – most of them residential – in Wales up to the end of 2023. In addition, they’re home to over 20,000 customers (13th May 2024), which is up from 10,000 on 4th Jan 2024. But build progress through 2024 has slowed down a fair bit.

As part of this, they’ve also been running a community support fund (“Cefnogi”) in some of their deployment areas, which offers grants worth up to £500 and volunteering hours to local grassroots community groups to help them “explore innovative approaches for promoting technology“. This has now opened up to invite applications for an 8th round of funding, and projects have until 11.59pm on 25th October to apply.

Louise Clement, Ogi’s Community Engagement Manager, said:

“Technology plays a big part in all our lives today. From keeping up with the latest news, to booking an appointment at the GP – it’s making a difference all around us.

Through Cefnogi, we want to make sure everyone in the community has the confidence to use all kinds of tech; helping to connect and build more resilient communities.

We’re asking groups to think outside the box and come up with innovative ways to use and showcase the best of technology to the widest possible audience.”

Since its launch back in 2022, the Cefnogi programme has given tens of thousands of pounds to local groups, charities and schools, with staff also volunteering over 3,000 hours in the community taking part in everything from litter picks to community garden builds.