Swansea Bay City Deal Pumped £44.8m of Investment into Digital Connectivity

A new report from consultancy firm FarrPoint has confirmed that the Swansea Bay City Deal’s Digital Infrastructure Programme in Wales has so far secured £44.8m of investment in digital connectivity during 2024–25, which went towards various broadband and dark fibre roll-out projects.

Readers might recall that the UK and Welsh Governments gave approval for a £55m digital infrastructure investment under the £1.3bn Swansea Bay City Region project back in 2021 (here), which among other things aimed to expand full fibre and 5G mobile connectivity to benefit homes, businesses and the public sector across Carmarthenshire, Neath Port Talbot, Pembrokeshire and Swansea. Some of this investment also came from the Local Broadband Fund (LBF) for Wales.

A number of related projects have since been awarded and made good progress, such as the £1.9m Full Fibre Infrastructure Build project with BT that helped to upgrade 69 key public sector sites (here), among others. The latest Digital Infrastructure Programme Report produced by Farrpoint, shows the overall £44.8m investment has been driven by a combination of City Deal funding, wider public sector support and sustained private sector commercial rollout.

Of the total investment, £2.2m was delivered through the Swansea Bay City Deal Digital Infrastructure Programme, funding major projects such as Dark Fibre East and the PSBA Full Fibre Infrastructure Build, alongside programme activity that helps unlock long term economic growth.

A further £6.1m of public sector funding supported connectivity in areas less likely to benefit from commercial rollout alone, particularly in rural and hard to reach communities. But the majority of this investment, £36.4m, came from the private sector.

Jonathan Burnes, Swansea Bay City Deal’s Portfolio Director, said:

“This investment is about far more than digital infrastructure. It is about creating lasting benefits for people, businesses and communities across the Swansea Bay City Region. Strong digital connectivity supports inclusive economic growth, helping businesses to innovate, attract investment and create quality jobs, while enhancing skills, education and access to services. It also enables improvements in public service delivery, including supporting wellbeing and more efficient ways of working.

City Deal funding is playing a vital role in unlocking wider public and private investment and ensuring that communities across the region, including rural areas, are able to fully participate in and benefit from a modern digital economy.”

A lot more detail can be found in the full report.