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Business News Wales

Contract Awarded for Swansea Bay City Deal's £10m Better Broadband Infill Project

Swansea Bay City Deal's Digital Infrastructure Programme has announced that BT in partnership with Openreach has successfully been awarded the delivery contract for the Better Broadband Infill Project. The £10 million project will bring full fibre broadband to 1,533 premises and an additional 256 sites across the four counties in the Swansea Bay City Region – Pembrokeshire, Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Carmarthenshire. This project specifically targets premises that currently have broadband speeds of less than 30Mbps and who are not in scope for any existing government interventions such as Project Gigabit or part of commercial build plans. The homes and businesses included are predominantly in harder to reach, rural areas where the cost to provide faster broadband services is considerably higher. Cllr. Rob Stewart, Leader of Swansea Council and Chair of the Swansea Bay City Deal Joint Committee, said: 'This project is a game-changer for our region. By bringing high-speed internet to areas that have been left behind, we are not only improving quality of life but also opening up new opportunities for economic and social development. Access to reliable broadband is no longer a luxury; it's a necessity. This project will ensure that everyone in the Swansea Bay region can participate fully in the digital age.' Susi Marston, Head of Public Sector Wales at BT, said: 'Connectivity is at the heart of how people live and work today but all of that relies on the right infrastructure being in place. 'The Better Broadband Infill Project will improve services for thousands of people across the Swansea Bay City Region who will benefit from state-of-the-art connectivity even in hard-to-reach areas.'The Better Broadband Infill Project is set to start this month and will continue its delivery across the region over six phases, with the first 220 premises connected by December this year and a completion date of March 31st 2027.'