Ultrafast Wi-Fi for Llangollen Eisteddfod

Celebrating its 70th anniversary year, the festival has recently connected to ultrafast broadband which provides speeds of 330Mbps through BT’s Fibre on Demand service which is available in Wales as part of the Superfast Cymru programme.

The service will provide fast wi-fi to the 4,000 performers and 50,000 visitors attending the world-renowned event, which is taking place between 3 – 9 July.

The festival already had superfast broadband speeds available in its office and pavilion, but decided to invest in Fibre on Demand to provide improved and faster communications for all those attending the event.

Minister for Skills and Science Julie James said:

“The Llangollen Eisteddfod welcomes thousands of visitors from across the world every year and what people experience here will give them a lasting impression of Wales.  It’s excellent news that the festival has taken advantage of Fibre on Demand through the Superfast Cymru programme, which demonstrates how Wales is a digitally connected country.

“This festival was established to create better understanding and build friendships between nations.  That makes it even more fitting that visitors will be able to stay connected during their time here.

“Superfast Cymru is transforming the digital landscape in Wales.  Over 645,000 premises now have access to superfast broadband as a result of the programme.  Wales has the highest availability of superfast broadband among the devolved nations  with over eight out of ten premises able to access it.”

Rhys Davies, Eisteddfod Chairman, said:

“We are delighted to be bringing Fibre on Demand through the Superfast Cymru programme to the Eisteddfod field in time for this year’s event. This additional service will greatly enhance the facilities available for our audiences, exhibitors and competitors who will be able to access information and share their experiences of the Eisteddfod in a way that has never been possible before. This would not have been achieved without funding from Arts Council of Wales and the assistance of the Welsh Government and we are very grateful for their support.”

Ed Hunt, Superfast Cymru programme director for BT, said:

“Up and down the country more and more people are seeing the benefits of superfast broadband.

“Our Openreach engineers are working incredibly hard every day to roll-out the infrastructure as quickly and as widely as possible. It’s great to see that such a world renowned event as the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod, along with its thousands of international visitors, will benefit from the superfast infrastructure that we’re building.”

Superfast Cymru is the partnership between the Welsh Government, BT, UK Government and European Regional Development Fund, bringing faster broadband to areas which would otherwise not receive it.

The Welsh Government also runs an Ultrafast Connectivity Voucher scheme which provides assistance for businesses which want to upgrade to ultrafast.