Shropshire Star

More than 1,000 homes to benefit from superfast broadband scheme in Mid Wales

Just over 1,000 premises in Powys are set to benefit from the second round of a government scheme to provide Mid Wales with superfast broadband.

Published

According to information obtained by Montgomeryshire Assembly Member, Russell George, only 1,410 premises in the whole of Powys out of the 17,960 which remain without high speed broadband will be included in the second phase of the Superfast Cymru scheme.

The second phase is to link up properties not covered by phase one, and the premises are forecast to be connected by the end of the year.

However the politician has revealed some rural communities will still be left in limbo.

He said: "Despite the Welsh Government setting aside around £85 million for the second phase of Superfast Cymru, only £22 million has been allocated, leaving a glaring hole of £62 million not assigned to the project.

“The project only aims to reach 26,000 premises out of the 93,000 which have been identified as being without high speed broadband across Wales and there’s to be little change for residents of the areas in Powys left behind by the first phase.

“Counties struggling with the worst high speed broadband coverage in Wales are once again going to be left in the lurch. Only 11% of the premises in Powys which were eligible for inclusion in phase 2 of the scheme will be covered.”

Committed

In response to questions put to him by Mr George in the National Assembly this week, the Welsh Government deputy minister for economy & infrastructure, Lee Waters AM, admitted that “there is more profit available for private companies to provide faster speeds to the people who already have broadband, than it is to reach those who have no broadband."

Mr George added: “It appears as though the Welsh Government are at the mercy of Openreach in selecting the easiest premises to enable for high speed broadband connectivity rather than insisting that public money is spent and prioritised on the areas which need it the most - those with poor or no broadband whatsoever."

A government spokeswoman added: "“Without Welsh Government intervention no premises at all in Powys would have access to superfast broadband, now more than 51,000 have access.

"As the Deputy Minister made clear we have had to intervene in large parts of Wales because the private sector have no plans to go there. We have invested over £200m in the first phase and are committed to reaching the final premises without access.

"This is very complex; there is no one size fits all solution and the challenges are particularly acute in very rural areas. The Deputy Minister has also said the member could assist by helping to persuade the UK Government to do more in an area which is not devolved to Wales.”