Superfast Cymru helping country to get connected
... BUT SOME HIGHLIGHT THE GAPS THAT STILL REMAIN
SUPERFAST Cymru has helped transform broadband speeds across North Wales - but there remains work to be done to connect thousands of homes and businesses.
The Welsh Government said the scheme - backed by public funding - has provided more than 230,000 premises across North Wales with access to fast fibre broadband.
Alongside the commercial rollout this is leading to a rapid increase in access to superfast broadband (over 30 Mbps) - with the percentage of premises with access ranging from 95% in Wrexham and Flintshire to 87% in Gwynedd.
But those figures are questioned by some who say that availability is not as widespread as claimed - with difficulties actually accessing the fibre service.
Kim Mears, managing director for Openreach, said Wales now had better services than European countries like Germany, France and Italy but acknowledged there was more to be done.
One Gwynedd business benefiting from superfast broadband is Inigo Jones Slate Works near Caernarfon.
Managing director John Lloyd said: “These days visitors expect free wi-fi, which we simply could not provide before, but now our visitors are happy and connected.
“It’s given our marketing and social media a boost because visitors are instantly sharing their Inigo Jones experience online.”
The company’s latest innovation has been its website which has allowed customers from all over the world to view its products, opening up a number of new opportunities.
Gwynedd has seen access to superfast increase from 2% in 2013 to 87% now, while neighbouring Conwy went from zero coverage to 92% over the same period.
Over half of all homes and businesses across Wales who now have access to fast fibre broadband have it as a direct result of Superfast Cymru - backed by up to £224m in public cash - which could only go where commercial companies had no plans to do so.
But Graham Gourlay, who owns Celtic Computers, in Llanwnda near Caernarfon, is spectical about these figures.
He said: “They are skewed because while the premises coverage is high this is mainly in towns with a concentration of people and there are still large parts of rural areas that are not covered. Also, while they say there is availability, in some places the reality is that it can difficult and expensive to access the services unless your property is right next to the road. They have said there has been superfast in this area for two years, but I have had to battle to get connected to fibre to premises.
“If I did not have the knowledge, the patience and the time, I would have given up. It has taken two years to get connected.
“Now I have it it has made such a difference to my business - things that took 30 minutes to download now take 30 seconds and for a business like mine that is very important. Having superfast has increased the number of repairs we can carry out, so increased our productivity.
“I know though that there are lots of people out there struggling to get connected, they think they can change provider and this will help, but the reality is that the infrastructure is the same - and that is down to Openreach.
“I now try to help people on how to press Openreach on this, I do it for free just to help people in this area.”
Superfast Cymru is a partnership between the Welsh Govern- ment, Openreach, European Regional Development Fund and UK Government.
Leader of the House with responsibility for digital Julie James said: “Whole local authority areas would have been untouched by superfast broadband rollout without Superfast Cymru – now there is not one local authority area without access. Wales has some of the highest speeds in the UK in remote areas with the use of Fibre to the Premises.
“Deploying broadband at this scale and pace in the Welsh landscape, particularly rural areas, has proved extremely challenging, and innovative solutions have had to be used at times, such as drones.
“While the programme has successfully changed the digital landscape in Wales, I am very aware that there remain premises without access and we are now working on how to reach these.”
Kim Mears, managing director for Openreach, said: “Superfast Cymru was an enormous engineering project with a complex set of challenges, but our engineers have risen to the task, delivering one of the outstanding digital network roll-outs in Europe.
“Building fast and reliable broadband infrastructure is another step towards Wales becoming a truly united and connected nation. Wales can confidently claim to having better superfast broadband coverage than Germany, France, Spain and Italy, but we’re also mindful that some communities are still waiting to gain access to better connections. We’re more determined than any other business to reach these remaining areas and we’ll continue to offer a solution through our Community Fibre Partnership programme. We’re also committed to exploring the alternatives with Welsh Government to make decent broadband a reality for all.”
Another firm to have benefitted is Gwynedd business Lledar, Porthmadog, who took free support from Superfast Business Wales to maximise the potential of the new technology.
The company increased international orders, which now account for 20% of all sales, via an e-commerce website and strategic approach to email marketing.
Owner Awel Lewis said the support from Superfast Business Wales played a crucial part in her success. She added: “Digital has allowed me to start and grow the business, and it removes barriers such as geography and time limitations.”
Following advice from Superfast Business Wales, Powys digital marketing consultancy Motif Creative invested in new IT infrastructure and online solutions. The switch to Cloud helped secure new international contracts in the high growth medical technology sector.
Motif’s creative director Stuart Spooner said: “The ability to provide creative solutions for our clients, backed up by a high level of customer service, will always be the main ingredients for success in our sector, but embracing modern technology is becoming more and more important, especially when competing in an increasingly global marketplace.”