A Connectivity Reset for Cardiff City Centre Businesses

For the first time there is a genuine sense that Cardiff city centre businesses have a workable solution when it comes to connectivity. After years of seeing firms forced into difficult compromises, accepting slow, unreliable broadband, the arrival of the new hypercity network has completely changed what is possible.

From my perspective in telecoms, that shift matters because it removes a constraint that has quietly held back growth across a wide range of sectors. Team Metalogic works with organisations across a wide range of sectors – from solicitors and accountants to dentists, pharmacists and creative businesses – and the common thread is reliance on cloud-based systems. Phone platforms, data storage, security tools and collaboration software all depend on a stable, fast internet connection. Without that foundation, even the best IT strategy struggles.

That’s why the arrival of Cardiff’s hypercity network feels like a genuine shift rather than an incremental improvement. Delivered through a collaboration between Cardiff Council and the Welsh Government, and built by infrastructure provider Elevate, the network is a new, full fibre system running across large parts of the city centre and surrounding areas. It provides businesses with access to fast symmetrical speeds and a modern alternative to legacy slow copper connections. For many city centre firms, it represents the first realistic alternative to cheap, unreliable, slow broadband.

The immediate beneficiaries are the professional services businesses already based in the city. Solicitors, accountants and architects might have ten, 20 or 30 staff sharing a connection, accessing cloud systems, handling large documents or working flexibly between office and home. Previously, many of them were operating on connections that simply weren’t designed for that level of use. With this infrastructure in place, they can access Gigabit speeds – at a price point that makes sense and is affordable.

The creative industries stand out as well. Architects working with CAD files, designers transferring large assets, or agencies collaborating remotely all need strong upload speeds as much as downloads. In the past, that requirement often ruled out certain buildings or locations entirely. Now, connectivity no longer has to be the limiting factor. That opens up more choice about where businesses locate and how they operate.

One area where I think this could be particularly significant is shared and serviced office space. There are more of these premises across Cardiff than there used to be, both in the city centre and on sites like Ocean Way, where multiple businesses operate from a single building. With access to a high-speed fibre connection into the property, it becomes far easier to onboard new tenants quickly and reliably. From a management point of view, it removes friction and makes those spaces more attractive to growing businesses that don’t want long lead-in times for connectivity.

Walking around Cardiff city centre at the moment, you can’t miss the number of empty or underused buildings. Some of these spaces have been difficult to let, and connectivity has been part of that challenge. If businesses know they can move into a building and get fast, reliable internet without prohibitive costs or long delays, that changes the equation. Over time, this kind of infrastructure can play a role in bringing activity back into parts of the city that have struggled.

From Team Metalogic’s point of view, being involved in this initiative is an opportunity, but not in a simplistic sales sense. As an SME ourselves, with around 15 staff, we understand the challenges our customers face. This network gives us a new way to start conversations with businesses that previously had no good options available to them. It allows us to solve a real problem first – connectivity – and then build a trusted relationship from there. Good service still matters most, and that’s where we’ve always focused our efforts.

What has stood out in working with Elevate is the emphasis on customer experience and local delivery. They haven’t taken an open-door approach to partnerships; they’ve been selective, and that matters when reputation and service quality are on the line. For businesses, knowing that there are engineers on the ground and accountability within the city makes a difference.

More broadly, this feels like a moment where Cardiff is addressing a long-standing gap. As the capital of Wales, it shouldn’t have been acceptable for city centre firms to face such stark connectivity choices. This network removes a major barrier that has held businesses back.

For professionals, creatives, shared workspaces and the SMEs that form the backbone of the city centre economy, the hypercity initiative is more than an upgrade. It’s a chance to operate on equal footing, to grow without artificial constraints, and to see connectivity treated as the essential business utility it has become.