Welsh broadband firm Ogi issues progress update on first-year milestone

Welsh broadband company Ogi has released a progress update to mark the first year of its efforts to deploy a new gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network to 150,000 premises across South Wales.

Ogi says that its £200 million deployment, which it claims is on target to be completed by the end of 2025, will have completed connections to 23,000 premises by the end of this month, compared to just 4,565 premises in November 2021.

So far, the company has connected premises in Haverfordwest, Rhoose, Llantwit Major, St Athan and Abergavenny, with its rollout also in progress in Johnston, Milford Haven, Dinas Powys and Monmouth. It says it plans for eight further towns and villages to be connected before the end of the year, although these are yet to be named. According to Ogi, its rollout will see each community "benefit from a capital injection of around £6 million".

Ben Allwright, Chief Executive Officer of Ogi, said: “Right from the start, our ambition has been to become a leading Welsh telecoms company, and the last 12 months have certainly laid the foundations for that goal. We’re continuously driven to bring next-generation broadband to underserved areas across Wales."

“Ogi’s roll-out is bringing much-needed connectivity to towns and villages from Pembrokeshire to Monmouthshire much faster than they’d otherwise be served, ensuring everybody has access to the same opportunities for a more prosperous and greener future. Our team live and work in our roll out communities and are passionate about the possibilities that Gigabit-connectivity is bringing.”

Ogi, which is currently being backed by investment from Infracapital, has marked its first-year milestone by opening four new offices in St Clears and Tongwynlais, as well as a network laboratory in Newport and a flagship headquarters, ‘TÅ· Ogi’, in Cardiff’s Hodge House.

The company says that its rollout has also so far been responsible for creating up to 165 highly skilled jobs directly within Ogi, as well as supporting hundreds more via its supply chains.