Saundersfoot in west Wales to receive full fibre broadband as part of Openreach plans

It's part of broadband company Openreach's plan to make full fibre broadband available to 25 million UK homes and businesses by the end of 2026. Credit: PA Images

A rural west Wales village will receive full fibre broadband for the first time as part of a drive to increase connectivity.

Saundersfoot, near Tenby, is one of more than 500 locations across the UK due to be provided with faster internet by the company Openreach.

Lack of broadband has long been an issue in parts of rural Wales.

Openreach is working on a project to provide internet connection at the top of Yr Wyddfa, Wales' highest mountain.

As part of this, Wales' highest home - situated on the side of the mountain - was provided with broadband at the end of 2022.

Saundersfoot in south Wales will be one of the next locations to get faster broadband. Credit: ITV Wales

The provider is planning to cover a further 2.7 million homes and businesses in this latest drive, including 400,000 "in the hardest to reach, most rural parts" of the UK.

Openreach says it has invested £15 billion in trying to make gigabit-capable technology available to 25 million UK homes and businesses by the end of 2026. That includes 6.2 million in rural areas.

Amongst the other areas selected alongside Saundersfoot to hopefully have faster internet services are Tobermory in Argyll and Bute, Harlow in Essex and Roborough in Devon.

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Clive Selley, chief executive of Openreach, said: “We’re on track and on-budget to make this life-changing broadband technology available to 25 million homes and businesses.

“We plan to build right across the UK, from cities and towns to far-flung farms and island communities. Ultimately, we’ll reach as many as 30 million premises by the end of the decade if there’s a supportive political and regulatory environment."

Mr Selley added: “Over time, we’ve learnt to deliver predictably, consistently and at a rapid pace – despite this being a hugely complex national engineering project.

“That gives us confidence to be even clearer about our build plans and we want to be as transparent as possible about where and when we’re building.

“Today we’re publishing more detail than ever about the places we’re building in now, and the communities we’ll be upgrading next."

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