Rural Broadband

A large proportion of the rural Vale now has access to broadband speeds of over 30 Mbps thanks to a combination of Welsh Government super-fast roll out and private sector investment.

Whilst this is a great achievement, we understand some residents and businesses have had difficulty gaining access to broadband. This page is designed to provide you with more information on:

• the superfast broadband roll out

• choosing broadband speeds

• fibre and the alternatives

You can also visit our pages on:

• funding available for broadband

• residential broadband

Superfast broadband roll out

The superfast broadband roll out across wales ended in December 2017. 18,581 properties were due to get broadband under this scheme and 86.48% were successfully connected. The take up of broadband has been 49%, the highest of all the local authorities in Wales. Welsh Government are working on a number of number of interventions to deliver super-fast broadband to premises which cannot access it, including a second broadband roll out of which further information should be available in 2019.

Fibre and alternative broadband solutions

Fibre-optic broadband transfers data via a fibre optic cable usually made of glass or plastic rather than the traditional copper wires. This is connected to the cabinet in your street where in most cases a copper cable then runs to your premise. In some cases fibre is run all the way to your premise, although this is less common.

A number of different broadband solutions are being used in areas where fibre cannot currently be connected. Make sure you check what speed you need, before picking a solution.

• Mobile Router

  EE have produced a Home router which has generous data caps and is being used now as an alternative solution where fibre cannot be installed.

   

• Broadband via Mobile Phone Technology

  You can connect to broadband through mobile technology such as a dongle, SIM card in your tablet or laptop or tethering from your mobile phone. This may be a good option for you if you have good phone connectivity such as 4G and you’re not a heavy user of the internet.

   

• Broadband via Satellite

  You can get broadband via a satellite connection but it should be considered as a last resort – it is slower and more expensive than broadband via mobile phone technology.

   

• TV White Space

  Some companies are offering solutions using TV white space – harnessing the gaps that is left between radio spectrum in the digital terrestrial TV bands to provide broadband. Although not creating the quickest of connectivity speeds, the technology is less affected by physical barriers such as walls or trees.