Elevate completes full fibre network across Cardiff
Elevate is delighted to announce the new £7 million full fibre network across Cardiff is now live, making Cardiff Elevate’s sixth Hypercity and the company’s first in Wales.
Elevate®, the leading provider of full fibre business internet and networks, is delighted to announce the new £7 million full fibre network across Cardiff is now live, making Cardiff Elevate’s sixth Hypercity and the company’s first in Wales.
As part of a multi-million-pound investment in the economic future of the city by the Welsh Governments Local Broadband Fund, and following a highly successful partnership and collaboration with Cardiff Council and the Elevate team , this new digital infrastructure will better connect and empower Cardiff’s residents and businesses, and help support the local economy.
The company will operate under the Elevate® brand for business customers, and WeFibre for residential customers in their homes. Elevate Wholesale will also be working with local IT organisations to support their customers' connectivity needs in the City.
Elliott Mueller, CEO at Elevate®, said: “Working in the cultural and commercial centre of Wales, businesses across the region need rapid and resilient access to the best possible digital infrastructure.”
“When we were awarded the contract back in 2023, we committed to full fibre coverage across Cardiff by 2025, and we’re delighted that the work we’ve undertaken with Cardiff Council and the Welsh Government has delivered exactly that.”
Isabelle Bignall, Chief Digital Officer at Cardiff Council, said, “Broadband is a necessity in this digital age, and access to reliable connectivity is essential to help our local businesses flourish and our residents thrive. I am proud to share the transformative impact of Cardiff’s Local Broadband Fund project which has successfully delivered gigabit speed connectivity to the most digitally deprived areas of the city.
This project has boosted connectivity for businesses and residents, driving economic growth and enhancing daily life in Cardiff. Alongside the improvements in broadband infrastructure, this project has also invested in our local communities. Elevate has provided Cardiff's Virtual School with online tuition credits to enable students, who may struggle in a traditional school setting, to complete their English and Maths GCSEs. WeFibre offers an affordable social tariff helping to reduce the financial barriers to connectivity, and 15 community sites have received free-for-life gigabit internet connections, helping to ensure that everyone in our community can stay connected and flourish.”
Welsh Government Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Planning, Rebecca Evans, said:
“This significant investment in Cardiff's digital infrastructure will provide thousands of businesses and residents with world-class connectivity, including many people who have suffered with slow broadband speeds until now.
“The Welsh Government, through our Digital Strategy for Wales, is committed to working with the telecommunications industry to deliver the fixed and wireless connectivity services that businesses, the public sector, and homes in Wales need to thrive.”
The new full fibre network gives over 5,000 businesses across Cardiff access to dedicated internet speeds up to 10 Gbps in as little as 20 days and over 4,000 homes access to full fibre broadband up to 1 Gbps.
The project positions Cardiff as a leader in the digital landscape; driving job creation, attracting investment and ensuring that businesses and residents can better connect locally and work internationally.
It gives residents in thousands of homes across the city the benefit of up to 1Gbps broadband as well as enhanced access to services, better educational opportunities and improved social inclusion. According to the Good Things Foundation, 3.7 million households with children do not meet the Minimum Digital Living Standard - a core tenet of which is having accessible internet. These are exactly the kind of issues Cardiff Council and the Welsh Government aims to address through this subsidy and delivery of this project.
While some parts of Cardiff already have access to high-speed connectivity, there were areas where a digital divide emerged, due to the patchwork approach of legacy network builds. Residents and businesses in the ‘gaps’ were still reliant on copper infrastructure, and as such, were restricted by inadequate internet connectivity.
Elevate has also invested significantly in its Hypercity initiative, bringing the UK’s fastest business internet to key cities across the country. Hyperfast, full fibre and point to point rooftop wireless networks that support digital equity and drive economic growth.