Highly visible infrastructure projects court opinion and often controversy – think M4 Relief Road, Severn Barrage or even the regeneration of Newport city centre.

But you may not be aware of a £425m project providing infrastructure throughout Wales which could give Welsh businesses a significant competitive advantage.

Combining European, UK and Welsh funding with substantial private sector investment, the Superfast Cymru project aims to ensure that 96 per cent of homes and businesses in Wales have access to high speed broadband connections, but the question is, what does this mean for your business?

From more efficient working practices to mobile computing, and lower infrastructure costs by replacing costly servers with cloud based systems, the rollout of superfast broadband brings with it a whole host of benefits.

The ability to improve customer engagement by developing better websites containing video and using sophisticated e-trading products, or the ability to send high volumes of data-heavy material back and fore with B2B clients are also enhanced by greater connectivity. And, the better connected a business is to its clients, the better it can perform and the more likely it is to succeed.

Recent research carried out by Superfast Cornwall showed that 50 per cent of SMEs in the county stated that fibre broadband had helped grow their business and almost 40 per cent said that it was enabling them to create new product and services.

The research also found that businesses benefited from improved agility and more efficient ways of working, with over 80 percent of SMEs stating it had reduced time and money spent on certain activities and 61 per cent said it had enabled people to work in new and different ways.

Despite the benefits, the take-up for superfast broadband remains relatively low in Wales. Last year, Ofcom figures revealed that we’re lagging behind the rest of the UK, with only 58 per cent of premises having signed up to superfast broadband compared with a UK figure of 78 per cent.

The South Wales Chamber of Commerce has been playing its part in encouraging businesses to sign up to the benefits of superfast broadband. From campaigning for the infrastructure in the first place through to delivering our series of ‘Fibre for Breakfast’ briefing sessions across the region and the country. We are also delivering Inspire to Action sessions across Blaenau Gwent as part of a pilot scheme run by the Centre for Business which which will give businesses practical examples of how they can exploit this technology. The pilot also provides opportunities for one to one follow up sessions with a Superfast Broadband business advisor.

The thing to remember is that you won’t automatically get superfast broadband - you have to request it. There may be a cost premium, but not always. Once you have it, the limitations are not speed or capacity, but your imagination. If you do nothing else today, please take a look at www.superfast-cymru.com. It might just give you the competitive edge you’re looking for.

- Ends -