January 13, 2021 - 763 views
The first projects to benefit from Welsh Government’s £10 million Local Broadband Fund have been announced today by the Deputy Minister for Economy and Transport Lee Waters.
The Local Broadband Fund supports local authorities and social enterprises to deliver broadband projects locally, helping communities without access.
Local authorities and social enterprises can bid for funding to help bring fast and reliable broadband to communities with poor connection. The next stage of the fund is open for applications and is due to close on 28th January.
The Deputy Minister for Economy and Transport Lee Waters said: "Over this difficult and challenging year the importance of fast reliable broadband has become even more apparent.
"While this area is not devolved to Wales we are taking action to bring faster broadband speeds and better mobile connectivity where we can.
"While the vast majority of premises across all parts of Wales can now access superfast speeds, following our intervention with Superfast Cymru, we know there are communities which continue to be poorly served.
"The Local Broadband Fund allows local authorities to nominate particular schemes which will specifically target communities where there are issues with slow speeds and poor mobile signal.
"I’m pleased today to announce the first three schemes to benefit from this funding. This will deliver a real difference to those communities.
"I look forward to making more announcements over the next few months and will be working with local authorities to identify the communities and schemes which would have the most to gain from this fund."
Meanwhile, the Member of the Welsh Parliament for Aberconwy – Janet Finch-Saunders MS – has today welcomed the news that BT will write to approximately 375 homes or businesses across the constituency, to explain that they may be eligible to get a faster broadband connection under a new Universal Service Obligation.
Since 20th March 2020, every home and business in Aberconwy has had a legal right to request that BT delivers a ‘decent’ broadband service to them under the new Universal Service Obligation for Broadband.
This is defined in law as a service with a download speed of at least 10Mbps and an upload speed of at least 1Mbps.
Ofcom estimates that only around 0.5% of all premises in the UK (c.167,000) cannot access decent broadband, given the widespread availability of super-fast broadband and wireless solutions. It is these remaining premises that are eligible for the scheme.
Commenting on the situation in Aberconwy, Mrs. Finch-Saunders said: “A reliable broadband connection can play a significant role in community regeneration, especially as more of our lives have moved online.
"Statistics show that 40% of rural businesses made at least half of their purchases online in 2019, with 81% of rural SMEs now operating a website to increase trade.
“As working from home becomes a trend that shows no sign of abating, I welcome the news that BT is writing to many of my constituents and several local businesses to explain that they may be eligible to get a faster broadband connection under the new Universal Service Obligation.
“However, as industry officials have made plain in our continued discussions on the matter, delivering upgraded connectivity to hard-to-reach locations is often a major civil engineering challenge with high excess costs. In spite of this, I remain committed to finding a solution that benefits all concerned.
“With this in mind, I have begun a process of questioning the Welsh Government on the conversations that they are having with industry and Government partners to ensure that this issue is being properly considered.”
