Thousands of properties in Tenby are to receive full-fibre broadband from Welsh telecoms company, Ogi. The broadband provider and infrastructure company has announced plans to rollout its full-fibre network to 5,000 properties in the seaside town.
It is the latest in over 60 Welsh towns and villages to receive the firm’s privately-backed broadband which launched in 2021. Surveying work to connect the 5,000 premises to Ogi’s network is already underway with activity due to start at street level over the autumn when local construction embargos are lifted.
The company said homes and businesses in the area will be able to access its ultrafast service from early 2024. Once complete, Ogi will be the leading provider of broadband in many parts of west Wales.
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According to Thinkbroadband, current average download speeds in Tenby peak at just over 51Mbps (12Mbps upload). However, Ogi’s gigabit-capable network will allow properties to access download speeds up to 900Mbps (90Mbps upload), while businesses will be able to go faster than 2.5Gbps each way for the very first time.
The rollout is part of the company's ambitious £200m phase one business plan to deploy its ultrafast broadband to 150,000 premises across south Wales by 2025, following private investment from Infracapital. As part of the rollout plans, Ogi is deploying its ultrafast services to a number of post-industrial local authority areas across south Wales, including Chepstow, Caldicot, Dinas Powys, Hengoed, Magor, Neyland, Pembroke, Pembroke Dock, Porth, Porthcawl, and Ystrad Mynach.
It has also increased its staff numbers from 20 to more than 210 full-time employees in recent years, with the business opening four new regional offices in Newport, Tongwynlais, Cardiff and St Clears. Ogi was also the first internet service provider in the 海角视频 to deploy Nokia’s 25Gbps full-fibre at Cardiff tech incubator Tramshed Tech.
Ogi chief executive Ben Allwright said: “I’m delighted to be welcoming Tenby – one of Wales’s most iconic seaside towns - to the Ogi network. Tourist destinations like Tenby are bursting with potential – and they deserve the best connectivity to help them thrive. As we’re seeing across Pembrokeshire, only Ogi can make that access a reality right now."
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He added: “Our network is helping businesses to grow, wherever they are based; supporting people to work closer to where they live; and opening up even more home entertainment choices.”
Earlier this year, Ogi announced plans to rollout its full-fibre network across Cardiff in Ogi’s move into a major city. It is expected to complete by early 2024 and will connect the whole of Cardiff without the need for expensive leased lines for the first time.
Manchester-based Telcom recently won a contract with Cardiff City Council to deliver its open-source infrastructure project, HyperCity, to the Welsh capital. Cardiff will be the sixth city to receive Telcom’s network which will target those areas that still rely on copper infrastructure in the city.
Cardiff Council said it aims to have 100% full-fibre coverage across the city by 2025, and previously submitted a bid into the Welsh Government’s Local Broadband Fund to address areas of Cardiff that are receiving poor broadband services.
In March 2022, the Council secured funding to provide gigabit full fibre to the stated premises in the first phase of a wider rollout programme. Via a competitive tender process Telcom were selected as their digital infrastructure partner to deliver a new hyperfast full fibre network based upon its HyperCity vision, capable of connecting the residents and businesses of Cardiff to a sustainable future.
Cllr Chris Weaver, Cabinet Member for Finance, Modernisation and Performance at Cardiff Council said: “This project will deliver high quality fibre broadband to some of the most deprived communities in Cardiff. Along with the significant improvements to broadband infrastructure that wouldn’t have been provided by commercial operators, Telcom is also offering a Social Value Tariff, as well as local employment and training facilities through their Telcom’s Engineering Bootcamp which is due to be launched to Cardiff residents this winter.
He added: "The scheme will continue to be rolled out by Telcom until January 2024 through the first phase of the project. The second phase is currently out to tender, with a contract being awarded later this year and will be delivered during 2024/25.”
Telcom co-founder and chief executive Shaun Gibson said: ‘We are delighted to have not only been selected by Cardiff Council but entrusted with the great responsibility of helping to close the digital divide across the City, in doing so ensuring digital inclusion. The rollout of the full fibre HyperCity network will remove barriers to growth and innovation and help to act as a catalyst for economic and social development, by connecting residents and businesses for good. Ultimately, ensuring that the premises served have access to hyperfast internet connections will create a better Cardiff, drive growth and future-proof its economy.”