A NUMBER broadband projects based in Gwent will receive funding as part of the Welsh Government's £10 million Local Broadband Fund.

Two projects in Monmouthshire and one in Michaelston y Fedw - on the border of Newport, Caerphilly and Cardiff - will benefit from more than £1.1 million between them to take forward projects to further improve broadband speeds in their areas.

One project, based in Llanthony Valley, will see better connectivity brought to the area. The valley has 122 premises, 30 per cent of which are businesses. It is currently one of the most poorly connected areas in the county.

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A Monmouthshire County Council scheme to build mixed wireless and fibre optic access network - capable of delivering speeds of between 50Mbs and 1Gbs across Monmouthshire - will also receive finding.

And funding will also be provided for the Michaelston y Fedw Internet Community Interest company. Since 2018 the company has provided fibre broadband to rural properties which previously struggled to find a useable broadband service. The funding will contribute towards a secure data centre and fibre cables from that centre, which would also provide opportunity for future expansion to more premises.

Senedd Member for Caerphilly, Hefin David, said: “This is great news for the residents of Michaelston Y Fedw. The last few months have shown us just how important it is that everybody has access to effective and efficient broadband, especially with todays advances in technology.

“With the number of people working from home likely to grow in the future too, we must ensure that people have the resources in place to access these opportunities should they choose.”

Deputy minister for economy and transport Lee Waters said: “Over this difficult and challenging year, the importance of fast reliable broadband has become even more apparent. While this area is not devolved to Wales, we are taking action to bring faster broadband speeds and better mobile connectivity where we can.

“While the vast majority of premises across all parts of Wales can now access superfast speeds, following our intervention with Superfast Cymru, we know there are communities which continue to be poorly served.”

Local authorities and social enterprises can bid for funding to help bring fast and reliable broadband to communities with poor connection. The next stage of the fund is open for applications and is due to close on January 28.