Swansea will soon have some of the fastest broadband speeds in the UK, thanks to a multi-million pound fibre network investment from Openreach.

Tens of thousands of homes and premises in the city will have access speeds of one gigabit per second, which is 24 times faster than the UK average broadband speed of 46 megabits per second.

Following investment in Cardiff this summer, Swansea has become the second location in Wales to benefit from the rollout of Openreach's so called Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) telephone and broadband network.

Work on the project has now started with the first customers expected to use the network from next March as part of rollout across the city.

While consumers will have to pay a provider to use the new high speed service, the investment is very much seen as providing a fibre infrastructure for the city's digital needs of the future, whether for leisure or business purposes.

Openreach said it was too early to say what consumer take up levels in the city could be.

What it means in practice

People will be able to do several things simultaneously such as streaming live music, enjoying the latest release on streaming platforms, and uploading large files to social media.

Openreach - which is now separate from BT - says its FTTP network will provide enough bandwidth for a family of four to all stream ultra HD or 4,000 quality movies or TV simultaneously, without waiting or buffering.

Downloading a typical HD film would take less time than it takes to make a cup of tea.

Managing director for strategic infrastructure development at Opeanreach, Kim Mears, said:"

“Making Swansea a Fibre First city complements the aim and ambition of the Swansea Bay City region as we’ll be putting in place the digital infrastructure that’s required for the future economic growth and prosperity of the city”

“We’ve already done an incredible amount of work across Wales in improving access to better broadband connectivity – both in rural and urban parts of the country.

“Our Fibre First programme is about future proofing that network so that it meets the needs of both families and businesses for generations to come.

“Despite the challenges of planning, street works and permissions, our engineers are already reaching thousands of homes and businesses every week and I’m delighted that Swansea is the latest city to benefit from this commitment.”

The build is part of Openreach’s UK investment programme in future proof FTTP networks, which is on track to reach three million homes and businesses across the UK by the end of 2020.

The ambition is to build FTTP to around 10 million premises by the mid-2020s and ultimately to the majority of the UK "under the right conditions."

Leader of Swansea Council, Rob Stewart, said:" Swansea is a city of ambition and we want to become a hotbed of innovation.”

“This investment by Openreach in Swansea will provide us with the best internet connectivity possible and enable companies to turbo charge their business opportunities.

“The roll-out of ultrafast broadband across the city will prepare Swansea for the future, provide the right conditions for our businesses to thrive and support our economy.”

Openreach's said at this stage it couldn't say the next location in Wales to benefit from the programme, which is not receiving public sector funding.

Welsh Government minister with responsibility for digital, Julie James said:" his is great news for Swansea, as it will be able to benefit from some of the fastest broadband speeds available.

"Wales already leads the way with fast fibre broadband as we have the largest rural FTTP network in the UK with speeds of over 100 Mbps as a result of our Superfast Cymru programme.

"It’s good to see Openreach taking this further by investing their new Fibre First technology in Swansea.”