Autumn 2014
Wales
Assembly
There is ardent agreement across
all walks of life that economic
development and growth is
now highly dependent upon
online digital services and the
infrastructure that makes them
possible. This Assembly Briefing
demonstrates how BT’s work in
Wales is supporting that economic
development.
This is all underpinned by the rollout of
superfast fibre broadband as part of the
Superfast Cymru project, with 55% of
homes and business in Wales now able to
access the game-changing technology and
work planned to start in every telephone
exchange in Wales by the end of September
2015. But it doesn’t stop there. Research
being undertaken at Bangor University
with the support of BT will make fibre
based networks even more intelligent,
whilst BT is working to encourage small
businesses in deprived communities to
embrace digital
transactions.
BT’s support
for job creation
through
apprenticeships
is further
enhanced by our
work in raising
awareness
among young
children of the importance of computing
and engineering, and our efforts to engage
with more women in this agenda.
This is all about building the Wales of the
future. BT stands side by side with all
those who share the ambition to make our
economy more competitive, our businesses
more productive, our communities more
digitally enabled, and our people more
skilled, as together we grow the workforce
of the future.
Since the last edition of Assembly Briefing,
rollout has hit an historic milestone, with
55% of homes and businesses in Wales now
enjoying access to high-speed broadband
thanks to Superfast Cymru.
Over the next 12 months, work is
set to begin on remaining exchanges
including Capel Curig in Conwy, Brechfa
in Carmarthenshire and Skenfrith in
Monmouthshire, with BT’s engineers
working in all 22 local authorities on this
enormous engineering project which will
distinguish Wales as a global leader in
BT helps bring
better value to
the public sector
in Wales
‘Bytesize Science’
brings science to life
Ann Beynon
BT Director Wales
Fibre rollout to start in all exchanges
Work is planned to start in every
telephone exchange in Wales
by the end of September 2015,
enabling superfast broadband to
be delivered to communities the
length and breadth of Wales.
Broadband gives a
boost to Penygraig
regeneration project
connectivity. To date, Superfast Cymru
and BT’s commercial roll-out has provided
800,000 homes and businesses with access
to fibre broadband, enabling them to
simultaneously download a movie, watch a
TV replay service, surf the internet and play
games online.
Deputy Minister for Skills and Technology,
Julie James AM acknowledged the extent of
the project, adding “The Superfast Cymru
programme is ambitious and challenging,
bringing fast fibre broadband across Wales.
By the time the programme is completed in
Spring 2016 Wales will be one of the most
highly connected countries in Europe with
96 per cent of premises able to access faster
internet speeds.”
Details of when work is planned to start in
each exchange in Wales can be found at
www.superfast-cymru.com/where-andwhen
BT celebrates
honorary
professorship
What’s your Welsh
word count?
BT People –
Rachel Maude,
BT Wales Board
member
BT Sport enters a
league of its own
Autumn 2014
Wales
Assembly
Broadband gives a boost to
Penygraig regeneration project
From hanging baskets to large
scale property renovations,
many Local Authorities make
regeneration projects the
centrepiece of their community
enhancement programmes.
BT in Wales are however keen to show
that community regeneration can take
many shapes and forms and demonstrate
how access to superfast broadband
can play a central part in this process
keeping local businesses at the cutting
edge of today’s fast moving marketplace.
A shining example of how superfast
broadband can be an important catalyst
in the regeneration process is the recently
launched Penygraig project in the
Rhondda Valley. Spearheaded by Rhondda
Cynon Taf Homes (RCT Homes) this May,
the housing association joined forces with
local businesses to kick-start an ambitious
regeneration scheme, bringing together
individuals and businesses in the locality
to revitalise the high street.
So when BT made superfast broadband
available in the town of Penygraig, this
was the ideal opportunity to showcase
the importance of access to the internet
to help local businesses prosper. Speaking
at the Valley’s Kids centre in Penygraig
this August, entrepreneur Mike Jones
told a bustling group of local business
owners that the roll out of superfast
broadband can be utilised to strengthen
the local economy. Mike explained the
opportunities to make cost savings which
high speed broadband presents through
the use of online business management
tools, and highlighted how the new
service could help to raise the profile of
Penygraig’s high street by encouraging
more people to support their local shops.
He added that local businesses could work
together to develop an integrated website
especially for Penygraig to promote the
variety of services right on the doorstep.
Mike commented that “It was good to
see so many local businesses eager to
hear about the new technologies on
offer to them. Many of the owners and
managers I spoke to were keen to find out
how superfast broadband could benefit
their business and were open minded
about using innovative software to give
Penygraig high street a fresh new image
and strong online presence.”
After the event, Andrew Lycett, Chief
Executive of RCT Homes told Assembly
Briefing “It was a real pleasure to have
BT Wales’ support raising the profile of
our regeneration project in Penygraig.
The project started on the back of our
housing improvement programme in
the area, but a community is not built
on bricks and mortar alone. Superfast
broadband provides real opportunities for
existing businesses to extend their reach
and to attract new businesses to come to
Penygraig, knowing that fast broadband
speeds are there for the taking.” As
digital technology transforms the way in
which businesses conduct transactions,
compete and seek new markets, the event
in Penygraig has shone a spotlight on how
the latest technologies can help even small
towns punch above their weight.
BT helps bring better value to the public sector in Wales
BT has been awarded a seven year
contract to operate the Waleswide Public Sector Broadband
Aggregation (PSBA) network.
The multi-million pound arrangement
will see BT provide broadband to
schools, hospitals, police forces and local
government across Wales – just some
of the 80 public service organisations
and 4000 public sites which are set to
benefit. Welsh Government Minister for
Economy Science and Transport Edwina
Hart AM said that the contract will make
“significant savings whilst continuing
to provide people with valuable and
effective services.”
The PSBA network will provide increasing
opportunities for Welsh public services
– from Further Education institutions
to Natural Resources Wales – to work
together to improve service delivery.
Deputy Minister for Skills and Technology
Julie James AM added that the network
is a “unique service, providing a robust
infrastructure for the public sector.”
The Deputy Minister went on to say that
PSBA will play a key role in the Welsh
Government’s vision to see Wales become
one of the most connected digital nations,
adding “I look forward to working with BT
to deliver networking benefits which will
support our public services.”
Autumn 2014
Wales
Assembly
‘Bytesize Science’ brings science to life
Schoolchildren may have left
the classroom over the summer
break, but learning doesn’t
just stop at the school gates.
Thanks to the launch of a new
theatre-style programme called
‘Bytesize Science’, children and
their parents had the chance to
learn more over the holiday about
how computers work and their
importance in everyday tasks.
BT’s support for the initiative, launched
in July, is all part of BT’s commitment to
raising the profile of computing in schools.
To deliver Bytesize Science, BT Wales
has teamed up with educational charity
‘Techniquest,’ to provide an entertaining
programme of interactive, hands-on stage
shows to bring computing to life.
Understanding the need for effective
role models to promote science, guests
at the launch included Scarlets and Wales
national rugby player Rhys Priestland,
Cardiff Blues hooker Kristian Dacey and
performance analyst for Cardiff Blues,
Jarrad Griffiths, who discussed how
computing has given Welsh rugby the
cutting edge in sport.
demand for IT specialists and engineers
in Wales, including the recent call by
Professor Julie Williams, Chief Scientific
Adviser for Wales for more women to
enter the fields of science, engineering
and computing.
The series of shows took place over the
summer holidays at the Techniquest centre
in Cardiff bay where visitors were able to
take part in live demonstrations on stage
finding out how computers operate, how
information is stored, or even stolen, and
how fibre optics carry our favourite films
and music.
Speaking about the programme, Ann
Beynon, BT Director for Wales said,
“Getting more children interested in
computing and science is essential for
the future prosperity of our economy in
Wales, and inspiring children, in particular
girls, at a very young age is a great way of
achieving that.
But the learning doesn’t end there! The
shows produced by ‘Bytesize Science’,
with a significant contribution from BT’s
Carl Jones, will now be used to create
bilingual computing lessons for Key Stage
3 pupils across Wales with BT volunteers
helping to deliver them over the coming
months. In the long-term, BT is confident
that Bytesize Science will help to inspire a
new generation of computer developers
and programmers to meet the increasing
Deputy CEO of Techniquest, Anita Shaw,
also told Assembly Briefing that “It is
imperative that young people develop
skills for the workplace, including those
in computing and programming, so that
Wales can compete globally. We are
delighted that BT has sponsored ‘Bytesize
Science’ which has allowed us to develop
this show that aims to inspire everybody to
discover more about the fascinating world
of computing”.
Autumn 2014
Wales
Assembly
BT celebrates honorary professorship
The head of BT’s fibre access
research team, Derek Nesset,
has received an honorary
professorship from Bangor
University for his outstanding
contribution to research into
optical fibre access.
Derek, who joined BT 25 years ago, is
one of BT’s industry-leaders, defining
what technologies will be used in fibre
broadband products of the future.
Derek explained that it all started
when he saw the ground breaking fibre
communications research being done
by Bangor University and looked into
how BT might become involved. He told
Assembly Briefing, “Bangor recognised
that I could help steer their research
to focus on the right problems for
network operators, and use my industry
connections to expose their work to a
wider audience.” He added that “This
is obviously an enormous honour for
me personally, but also great external
recognition of the quality of the research
we are doing at BT, as Bangor University
is a world leader in aspects of fibre access
research.” As part of his new position,
Derek will be working for both BT and
Bangor University’s School of Electrical
Engineering.
Derek’s award comes at an exciting time,
as Bangor University continues to make
great headway in research to improve
the capacity of fibre access systems.
This ground-breaking research is being
supported by BT, through sponsoring
PhD student Miss Yixian Dong who is now
working at Bangor and within Derek’s BT
research team.
Professor Paul Spencer, Dean of Physical
and Applied Sciences highlighted that
“As a widely-recognised expert in fibre
access technology, Professor Nesset will
play a key role in steering the university’s
optical communications research and
facilitate exposure of this research to
the telecommunications community
worldwide.” This innovative partnership
shows what tremendous leaps can be
made through collaboration in this
area, hailing a bright future for the fibre
technology sector in the years to come.
What’s your Welsh word count?
BT’s engineers are currently
working hard laying miles of fibre
internet cables across Wales,
but once the cables are in the
ground, understanding how
people choose to use the internet
can be just as important in taking
advantage of the new technology
as the infrastructure itself.
Recent research carried out by Mentrau
Iaith Cymru on behalf of BT Wales has
shown that when using social media
many Welsh speakers primarily choose
to communicate in English. In light of
this, BT Wales and Mentrau Iaith Cymru
joined forces on the eve of the National
Eisteddfod to encourage the use of Welsh
on social media sites.
This research revealed a number of
trends in the use of Welsh on social media
platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.
It was found that around a quarter
of people who regularly use Welsh in
‘real-life’ situations mainly use English
on social media sites. Indeed, 65% of
respondents felt that the interface
language of the website influenced their
language of choice.
The report also found that 95% of
participants said they would like to
use more Welsh on social media sites.
Noting this “strong desire” to use Welsh
on social media platforms, BT Director
for Wales, Ann Beynon, explained that
BT will “Investigate the possibility of
providing this communication channel to
our customers in the future.” BT in Wales
already welcomes all communications in
Welsh. Emily Cole of Mentrau Iaith Cymru
went on to say that the organisation hopes
to “Work closely with BT in the future to
further promote the use of Welsh in the
digital world.”
Responding to these findings, both BT
Wales and Mentrau Iaith Cymru have
also called for social media sites such as
Twitter and Linkedin to follow the work of
Facebook by developing a specific Welsh
language interface.
BT Wales Director Ann Beynon added
“Digital skills are becoming increasingly
relevant in many aspects of life, and
digital inclusion is vital if all members
of society are going to make the most
of what exciting developments such as
high speed broadband have to offer.
It is important that in doing so we
acknowledge the needs of those who
prefer to communicate online in Welsh,
increasing accessibility for Welsh speakers
and helping to support the vitality of the
Welsh language.”
Autumn 2014
Wales
Assembly
BT People – Rachel Maude, BT Wales Board member
Rachel Maude, a member of
the BT Wales Board tells
Assembly Briefing what she’s
doing to make BT Wales an
industry leader in diversity and
equality in the workplace.
Rachel started life with BT after
graduating in French and Italian from
Cardiff University in 1998, and has held
a variety of HR generalist and specialist
roles in the telecoms industry in the UK
and Europe. In 2013 she was invited to
join the BT Wales Board with a brief to
improve gender diversity of hires into BT
in Wales, and make BT an attractive option
for women looking to develop a successful
career in engineering. And since then,
there’s been no stopping her.
BT is focused on making ‘inclusion’ and
‘diversity’ a core part of what we do. “In
May, Openreach (a BT Group business)
announced plans to create 190 new
engineering jobs in Wales with a focus
on attracting a diverse set of applicants.
We’ve been inundated with applicants
from all walks of life. Some of the latest
recruits have joined us through the UK
Armed Forces Civilian Work Attachment
Scheme, which is proof that we are seen
as somewhere you can develop and
grow even if you’ve already had a career
elsewhere.”
While the number of applicants from
diverse communities and backgrounds
is on the rise, the number of women
applying is still relatively low. But driving
up the number of female applicants to
match that of their male counterparts
is a challenge Rachel is determined to
rise to. “We have used our long standing
relationships with communities to reach
out to people who may not have thought
about working for Openreach, and who
may have thought there were obstacles –
by running targeted campaigns for female
engineers, for example. For me, it’s been
very exciting to work on a project which
demonstrates that your background or
gender is no barrier to a successful career
in Openreach”.
have resulted in an improvement of female
apprentices joining BT’s Apprentice
Programmes in Wales from 3% in 2013/14
to 14% in 2014/15 so far.
In 2013 Rachel helped to initiate a
private and public sector industry
employer’s network. Led by equalities
organisation Chwarae Teg and funded
by the Welsh Government, the network
aims to support women into traditionally
under-represented roles in Wales. When
discussing this initiative Rachel says
“We have worked together to share best
practice and build an action plan to help
employers recruit and retain women in
multiple sectors”.
BT is ranked in ‘The Times Top 50
Employers for Women’. However, Rachel
isn’t content with stopping there. “We
are working even harder to increase the
proportion of our people that are female,
particularly in Senior Executive and STEM
roles. Research shows that 58% of all new
jobs will be STEM related and often higher
paid with longer prospects and we aim to
publicise this to female applicants”.
BT announced in February 2014 a
significant increase in planned new
apprentice and graduate hires across the
UK in the coming year: the majority of
new roles will be in areas of IT, technology
research and engineering. “BT has always
included video diaries and testimonials
on our recruitment portal, www.bt4me.
co.uk which aim to attract more women
into our industry and we are redoubling
our efforts by populating our site with
more compelling case studies to challenge
the perceptions of would-be female
candidates”. Collectively, these initiatives
Joe Garner, the CEO of Openreach, is
BT’s gender sponsor. Joe encourages
senior leadership to mentor someone
different to them and engage more
with schools to promote STEM careers
amongst young women. As part of her
own learning Rachel has recently become
a member of SEWEN (South East Wales
Equality Network), who aim to promote
equality of opportunity and good practice
in employment in the region. Speaking
about this new venture, Rachel told
Assembly Briefing that “I want to continue
my own development, and learn from
other organisations in the network.”
Autumn 2014
Wales
Assembly
BT Sport enters a league of its own
BT Sport’s charitable initiative,
the Supporters Club, celebrated
its first anniversary this June
after a year which has seen it
go from strength to strength.
The Supporters Club provides
financial assistance to grassroots
sports clubs throughout Wales
and the UK in an effort to instil
a love of sport in children and
young people.
received a boost thanks to former
Wales international football star Nathan
Blake, who has signed up to become
the organisation’s ambassador in Wales.
Cardiff-born Nathan, who played for
Wales 29 times, described StreetGames
as “A great programme helping kids
from disadvantaged backgrounds like
myself”, adding “From my point of view,
it’s fantastic to be involved as it helps
with their social skills, helps with their
responsibility, and with the current
obesity problem it ultimately helps with
their health.”
This summer, thanks to the club’s
backing, nationwide charity StreetGames
launched its first branch in Blaenau
Gwent. Instead of confining sport to
formal arenas such as the football pitch
or rugby club, StreetGames brings sport
right to the doorstep of young people in
disadvantaged communities.
There is further good news for young
people in Blaenau Gwent, as BT’s
Supporters Club is also funding a
pre-apprenticeship programme for
people aged 16-25 to help them gain
qualifications through volunteering
with their local sports club. One of those
benefiting from this initiative is Tom
Edwards, now a full-time volunteer with
StreetGames. Tom started volunteering
StreetGames’ efforts to get children
off the sofa and out of the house have
three years ago when he was laid off
work and volunteering has given him
the confidence and skills to set up
StreetGames sites in both Six Bells Park
and Abertillery. Tom explained, “When I
was in school, we didn’t really have this
opportunity. I wanted to give something
back to the community. It has given me
so much confidence and the ability to go
and set up more sites.”
The Supporters Club’s work in helping
to promote grass-roots sport in Wales
comes in addition to the landmark
announcement, featured in the last
edition of Assembly Briefing, that
BT Sport has agreed sponsorship
arrangements to support Wales’ four
regional rugby teams. With Welsh
football legend Robbie Savage also
joining the new Saturday morning show
“Matchday Live,” and Sarra Elgan among
the team of commentators, BT Sport is
committed to celebrating Welsh talent,
both on and off the screen.