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Wales Broadband Coverage

Data across 22 local authorities · 1,569,380 premises

Wales full-fibre coverage is 76.2% , below the UK national average of 77.5% . The nation ranks below average among the four UK nations.

The verdict

Wales ranks 3rd of the four UK nations for full-fibre at 76.2% — 1.3pp below the 77.5% UK average, spanning 89.4% in Flintshire down to 50.0% in Ceredigion.

3rd of 4 UK nations
−1.3pp vs 77.5% UK average
39.4pp best-to-worst LA spread
0.4% below USO minimum
76.2%
Full-fibre (FTTP)
79.1%
Gigabit-capable
96.3%
Superfast (≥30 Mbit/s)
79.5%
Ultrafast (≥300 Mbit/s)
0.4%
Below USO (10 Mbit/s)
37.1%
Full-fibre take-up

Broadband Coverage in Wales

Wales covers 22 local authority areas with a combined 1,569,380 premises, of which 76.2% can access a full-fibre (FTTP) connection and 79.1% have access to gigabit-capable broadband. The gap between full-fibre and gigabit figures reflects additional premises served by upgraded cable (DOCSIS 3.1) networks, principally in urban areas where Virgin Media O2's HFC infrastructure has been upgraded to support gigabit speeds without laying new fibre-to-the-premises.

Within Wales, coverage varies considerably at local authority level. Flintshire leads with 89.4% full-fibre coverage, while Ceredigion has the lowest proportion at 50.0% — a gap of 39.4 percentage points. No local authorities have more than 5% of premises below the Universal Service Obligation threshold, indicating a relatively even baseline of connectivity across the nation.

Superfast broadband (≥30 Mbit/s) reaches 96.3% of premises, while ultrafast (≥300 Mbit/s) is available to 79.5%. Full-fibre take-up — the proportion of premises that have subscribed to an FTTP service where one is available — stands at 37.1%, reflecting both consumer demand and the competitive broadband market. All figures are from Ofcom's Connected Nations 2025 report, published in July 2025 under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Top 10 Local Authorities by Full-fibre Coverage

Top local authorities in Wales by full-fibre (FTTP) coverage

1. Flintshire89.4%2. Bridgend88.7%3. Caerphilly87.5%4. Conwy85.6%5. Newport85.5%6. Vale of Glamorgan84.6%7. Cardiff83.5%8. Swansea80.7%9. Denbighshire78.7%10. Merthyr Tydfil76.4%
Top local authorities in Wales by full-fibre (FTTP) coverage

Distribution of Wales Authorities

Where Wales's authorities cluster

Each bar is the number of Wales local authorities in that full-fibre band. The highlighted bar holds the national average (76.2%).

76.2% 3rd of 4 Wales average vs the other UK nations

0–9%: 0 authorities 10–19%: 0 authorities 20–29%: 0 authorities 30–39%: 0 authorities 40–49%: 0 authorities 50–59%: 3 authorities 60–69%: 4 authorities 70–79%: 7 authorities National average 80–89%: 8 authorities 90–99%: 0 authorities 0% 100%

22 Wales local authorities, bucketed by full-fibre coverage

Source: Ofcom Connected Nations 2025 (July 2025, r01)

Local Authorities in Wales

22 areas · sorted by full-fibre
Local Authority Full-fibre Gigabit Superfast Below USO Premises
Flintshire 89.4% 89.4% 97.6% 0.1% 76,015
Bridgend 88.7% 88.7% 98.7% 0.0% 68,607
Caerphilly 87.5% 87.5% 99.2% 0.0% 84,527
Conwy 85.6% 85.6% 96.5% 0.6% 60,307
Newport 85.5% 92.3% 98.4% 0.0% 75,350
Vale of Glamorgan 84.6% 89.3% 98.4% 0.1% 65,437
Cardiff 83.5% 92.1% 97.9% 0.0% 172,094
Swansea 80.7% 88.8% 98.7% 0.1% 120,070
Denbighshire 78.7% 78.7% 94.9% 0.3% 50,974
Merthyr Tydfil 76.4% 76.4% 99.1% 0.0% 28,864
Wrexham 76.4% 76.4% 96.7% 0.2% 67,250
Monmouthshire 75.5% 75.5% 93.2% 0.8% 46,681
Torfaen 74.1% 82.5% 97.3% 0.0% 47,015
Neath Port Talbot 72.9% 81.3% 98.2% 0.1% 69,569
Rhondda Cynon Taf 72.6% 76.1% 98.7% 0.1% 120,989
Carmarthenshire 69.2% 69.2% 92.0% 1.1% 95,030
Blaenau Gwent 68.8% 68.8% 98.4% 0.0% 35,644
Pembrokeshire 64.9% 64.9% 94.8% 0.6% 67,105
Gwynedd 62.4% 62.4% 93.5% 0.8% 68,690
Powys 57.0% 57.0% 86.9% 2.2% 71,338
Isle of Anglesey 55.3% 55.3% 94.8% 0.6% 38,375
Ceredigion 50.0% 50.0% 87.1% 1.7% 39,449

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Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Source: Ofcom Connected Nations 2025, July 2025 release (r01). Published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Figures represent premises-level coverage, not actual subscriptions or speeds experienced by customers.