Homes in Cardiff, Wales and Pontypridd will be the first in the UK to benefit from the latest internet-based technology 21CN (21st Century Network). This will give UK one of the most advanced and flexible communications infrastructures in the world.

£10 billion will be spent by British Telecom over the next five years to update every telephone exchange in the United Kingdom. The company also plans to replace the old phone network with a broadband-based connection. The company's mission statement promises to roll out a seamless and integrated communications experience, applicable for everyone.

This move is ahead of all other telecommunications companies throughout the world in as it takes this step to transforming its network. The plan is to move all British Telecoms subscribers from the traditional PSTN (public switched telephone network) to a new IP (internet protocol) network.

While customers in the pilot scheme area in south Wales will be transferred to the new network in 2006, the remainder of subscribers moving by the end of the decade. This will mean that in the decade, there will be a broadband connection connecting customers to a world of service possibilities, including the possibility to download entertainment on demand.

Extra cash was used to bridge the "digital divide" between areas of Wales with broadband and those without was approved by the European Commission. This is intended to cover 30 black spot areas which cannot access it.