BT fibre broadband rolled out to first Tonypandy homes

Fibre optic broadband is now available to the first homes and businesses in the Glamorgan town of Tonypandy thanks to BT's national commercial rollout.

Engineers from the telecoms giant will connect more than 12,000 local properties to super-fast broadband over the coming weeks as part of a project that has already brought the technology within reach of 13 million UK premises.

This marks the latest fibre broadband rollout in the area, coming after BT upgraded the communities of Aberdare, Newtown Llantwit, Pontypridd and Taffs Well.

The commercial investment is separate to BT's involvement in Superfast Cymru, a government-backed initiative that aims to bring fibre optic connectivity to 96 per cent of Welsh properties by the end of 2015.

Ann Beynon, BT's director for Wales, said fibre broadband can open up "a whole new world" for internet users.

"It's great for education, shopping, entertainment, the social networking we now carry out routinely online and it also offers huge benefits for businesses and public services," she explained.