Openreach opens doors to Newport learning centre
Leader of Newport City Council, Cllr Jane Mudd and Ruth Jones MP for Newport West take a look around £1.7m new learning centre (Gweler fersiwn Cymraeg isod / Welsh language version below)
Councillor Jane Mudd and Ruth Jones MP recently visited the brand new National Learning Centre for Wales to witness first-hand how Openreach engineers are being trained to provide Newport and the rest of Wales with ultrafast full fibre broadband.
Based in Newport, the state-of-the art new learning centre will give trainee Openreach engineers the opportunity to learn the ropes and test their skills in a replica street, built from scratch to recreate the real network in the outside world.
Recently opened by Welsh Government First Minister, Mark Drakeford, the new centre will enable engineers to experience a typical working day - from laying cables to building joints and making repairs, working underground or climbing telephone poles and installing new services inside customers’ homes and businesses.
Up to 6,000 new and existing Openreach engineers from across Wales, as well as further afield, are expected to train at the Newport centre during a typical year as the company accelerates its flagship full fibre broadband deployment across the country.
During her recent visit to the new National Learning Centre for Wales, Cllr Jane Mudd, Leader of Newport City Council, said: “It’s welcoming to see how important Newport is to Openreach and their ambitious plans of bringing ultrafast full fibre to the rest of Wales and the UK.”
Ruth Jones MP for Newport West added: "It was great to see how Newport and the National Learning Centre for Wales is at the very heart of Openreach's commitment to teach the country's next generation of telecom engineers.”
“The National Learning Centre will help train the thousands of engineers that are needed to build this new state of the art infrastructure. It's really good to know that this centre of learning will bring trainees from all over the UK to learn new skills, provide jobs for people in Newport West, and of course showcase all that Newport has to offer."
Connie Dixon, Openreach’s Partnership Director for Wales, said: “Our National Learning Centre for Wales is testimony to our commitment to not only continued learning and development but also to Newport and the rest of Wales.”
“Our network underpins the economy the length and breadth of Wales, bringing a vital service to communities in both urban and rural areas. We’re proud of our track record but recognise there is still more to do.”
“We’re investing now for the future so that we have the local, skilled and experienced workforce needed to deliver a full fibre future for Wales to keep communities connected, with better service, broader coverage and faster broadband speeds for all.”
About Openreach in Wales
Across Wales, Openreach already employs more than 2,500 people and since April 2018 the company has hired more than 600 new trainee engineers throughout the nation, with recruitment ongoing.
The new engineers will be key to delivering the company’s ‘Fibre First’ programme, which is bringing faster, more reliable and future proof Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) broadband technology to millions of front doors across Wales and the rest of the UK. Openreach is investing heavily to build its ultrafast full fibre technology to a total of 25 million premises across the UK, including more than six million in the hardest-to-serve parts of the country by the end of 2026.
More than 400,000 homes and businesses in Wales can already order our ultrafast, ultra-reliable full fibre broadband via dozens of retail Communications Providers who use the Openreach network.
The business has made a number of recent announcements about its build plans for Wales – including an additional 87,000 properties that are set to benefit across south Wales. This is in addition to the hundreds of thousands of properties that have already been announced across every single Welsh local authority area. The company is also working in partnership with Welsh Government to reach those that are in the final 5%.
Recent research by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) highlighted the clear economic, social and environmental benefits of connecting everyone in Wales to full fibre. It estimated this would create a £2 billion boost to the local economy.
Openreach yn agor drysau canolfan ddysgu Casnewydd
Yn ddiweddar ymwelodd y Cynghorydd Jane Mudd a Ruth Jones AS â Ganolfan Dysgu Cenedlaethol Cymru er mwyn gweld sut bydd yn peirianwyr Openreach yn dysgu sut i ddarparu band eang ffeibr cyflawn yn ardal Casnewydd a gweddill y wlad.
Bydd canolfan Casnewydd yn rhoi cyfle i ddarpar beirianwyr Openreach ddysgu sgiliau newydd a’u profi mewn stryd yn adlewyrchu’r rhwydwaith sy’n bodoli yn y byd mawr.
Agorwyd y ganolfan yn ddiweddar gan brif weinidog Cymru Mark Drakeford. Bydd canolfan ddysgu ‘Open Street’ yn helpu peirianwyr i ddod i arfer â phrofiadau arferol diwrnod gwaith - o osod ceblau i greu uniadau a gwneud gwaith trwsio, gweithio o dan neu uwchben y ddaear, dringo polion ffôn a gosod gwasanaethau newydd mewn cartrefi cwsmeriaid.
Rhagwelir bydd hyd at 6,000 peiriannydd Openreach (profiadol a newydd) o bob rhan o Gymru a thu hwnt yn derbyn hyfforddiant yn y ganolfan bob blwyddyn, wrth i’r cwmni edrych i ledu band eang ffeibr cyflawn ar draws y wlad.
Yn ystod ei hymweliad, dywedodd y Cynghorydd Jane Mudd, arweinydd Cyngor Dinas Casnewydd: “Mae’n dda gweld pa mor bwysig yw Casnewydd i Openreach a’i gynlluniau uchelgeisiol i ledu band eang ffeibr cyflawn ar draws y Deyrnas Unedig”.
Ychwanegodd Ruth Jones AS Gorllewin Casnewydd: "Roedd yn wych gweld sut mae Casnewydd a’r Ganolfan hon yn elfennau mor bwysig o ymroddiad Openreach i ddysgu’r genhedlaeth nesaf o beirianwyr telathrebu”.
“Bydd y ganolfan yn helpu i hyfforddi’r miloedd o beirianwyr fydd angen i adeiladu rhwydwaith telathrebu ar gyfer y dyfodol. Mae’n dda gwybod bydd y ganolfan yn denu pobl o bob rhan o’r Deyrnas Unedig i ddysgu sgiliau newydd, darparu swyddi yn ardal Gorllewin Casnewydd a dangos nodweddion cyffredinol Casnewydd a’r cylch."
Dywedodd cyfarwyddwraig partneriaethau Openreach yng Nghymru, Connie Dixon: “Mae’r Ganolfan hon yn adlewyrchu ein hymrwymiad i barhau i ddysgu a datblygu, a hefyd i gefnogi Casnewydd a Chymru gyfan”.
“Mae ein rhwydwaith yn cynnal yr economi ar hyd a lled y wlad, gan ddwyn gwasanaethau hanfodol i gymunedau trefol a gwledig. Rydym yn falch o’n gwaith hyd yma ond yn derbyn bod dal llawer i wneud.”
“Bydd ein buddsoddiad nawr yn sicrhau bydd gweithlu lleol, galluog a phrofiadol gennym i ddarparu band eang ffeibr cyflawn ar draws y wlad, gan gysylltu cymunedau gyda gwasanaeth gwell, darpariaeth ehangach a chyflymderau band eang uwch ar gyfer pawb.”
Openreach yng Nghymru
Mae Openreach yn chwarae rôl bwysig iawn yng Nghymru, gyda dros 2,500 o’n pobl yn byw a gweithio yma. Ers Ebrill 2018 mae’r cwmni wedi cyflogi dros 600 hyfforddai peirianneg newydd a bydd y gwaith hwnnw’n parhau.
Bydd y peirianwyr newydd yn allweddol wrth weithredu rhaglen ‘Ffeibr Gyntaf’ y cwmni, sy’n lledu technoleg band eang datblygedig Ffeibr i’r Adeilad (FTTP) i filiynau o gartrefi yng Nghymru a gweddill y Deyrnas Unedig. Mae Openreach yn buddsoddi’n helaeth er darparu ei dechnoleg ffeibr cyflawn ar gyfer 25 miliwn cartref a busnes ar draws y Deyrnas Unedig, yn cynnwys dros chwe miliwn yn yr ardaloedd mwyaf anodd eu cyrraedd erbyn diwedd 2026.
Erbyn hyn mae dros 400,000 cartref a busnes yng Nghymru yn gallu archebu ein band eang ffeibr cyflawn drwy’r dwsinau o gwmnïau cyfathrebu sy’n defnyddio rhwydwaith Openreach.
Yn ddiweddar, gwnaeth y cwmni nifer o gyhoeddiadau am ei gynlluniau adeiladu yng Nghymru, gan ychwanegu 87,000 cartref a busnes ar draws de Cymru. A hynny ar ben y cannoedd o filoedd o gartrefi a gyhoeddwyd eisoes ar draws pob ardal awdudod lleol. Yn ogystal, mae’r cwmni yn gweithio mewn partneriaeth â Llywodraeth Cymru er cyrraedd 5% olaf y wlad.
Mae ymchwil diweddar gan Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) wedi tanlinellu’r buddion economaidd o gysylltu pawb yng Nghymru â’r rhwydwaith ffeibr cyflawn. Amcangyfrifir byddai’n creu hwb gwerth £2 biliwn i economi’r wlad.
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