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Local Full Fibre Network

Published: 15/03/2019

Flintshire County Council’s Cabinet has adopted the North Wales Connectivity Strategy, which aims to increase full fibre broadband connectivity across North Wales - making it one of the best connected in the UK.

The North Wales Economic Ambition Board (NWEAB) has an ambitious vision to improve the economy across North Wales including a Digital Connectivity Strategy for the region.  This strategy has been used to submit a regional bid to the UK Government’s Local Full Fibre Network (LFFN) Programme Challenge Fund which is for investment in digital connectivity delivered by the public sector.

The LFFN bid focusses on upgrading public sector connectivity by replacing current copper (slow / low and relatively expensive bandwidth) connections with better value, faster ‘full fibre’ connections at around 400 sites across the region.

Flintshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Corporate Management and Assets, Councillor Billy Mullin, said:

“This is an exciting programme which will benefit not only local authorities in North Wales but also other public sector bodies including Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, North Wales Fire and Rescue and GP surgeries.

“The outcome of this investment will be an almost complete coverage of full fibre connectivity across the public sector in North Wales, making it one of the best connected in the UK.  With the possibility of those within 200m of a “target site” also being able to access this full fibre broadband, this investment would also benefit the private sector.”

Flintshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Councillor Derek Butler, continued:

“Delivery of full fibre broadband on the proposed scale will result in more of the region’s businesses accessing affordable, high quality connectivity, typically only available in larger urban centres. This will help not only the growth of digital industries which support highly skilled, well paid jobs but also other sectors which are increasingly dependent on higher standards of connectivity. These include tourism, manufacturing and retail.”

Other funding opportunities will be sought to expand the fibre infrastructure of the region and the county or to support business and households in connecting to it.