Online speeds among the slowest in Britain
‘BUSINESSES BEING PUT AT A DISADVANTAGE’
NORTH Wales has topped the list for having some of the worst internet speeds in the Uk.
Of the top 20 council wards with the worst broadband in the UK, four are in North Wales with another three in Ceredigion alone. Wales has seven of the bottom 10 wards for speeds in the whole of Great Britain.
Figures released by the House of Commons Library reveal that Abererch, near Pwllheli, tops the list for having the slowest download speed of all UK council wards at 2.7Mb/s, followed closely by Tudweiliog on the Llŷn peninsula with 4.7Mb/s.
The other wards in North Wales were Llanbedr DC in Denbighshire and Eglwysbach in Conwy, while in Ceredigion the wards that had some of the worst speeds were Llanrhystyd, Penbryn and Llandysilio-gogo.
Liz Saville Roberts MP said rural householders are suffering disproportionately when it comes to broadband speeds.
More than half of householders in her Dwyfor Meirionnydd constituency receive broadband connection speeds of under 10Mb/s, the very minimum acceptable download speed set by the government.
She said: “These figures serve to reaffirm the disproportionate divide between those areas which are able to access superfast broadband and those rural communities struggling to achieve the Government’s own baseline download speed.”
“It’s shocking that out of the 10 worst performing areas for broadband speeds, seven are in Wales, with two in my constituency. Indeed, of those regions identified as having shockingly poor download speeds, north west Wales fares the worst.”
“It should be appreciated that people living in rural areas find the glacial pace at which superfast broadband is being rolled-out is aggravated by allround poor connectivity.
“Many of my constituents are unable to access what Ofcom recognises as the speed necessary to deliver an ‘acceptable user experience’, required for basic usage such as web browsing, streaming and video calling.”
“Upgrading digital infrastructure in rural areas is crucial to ensuring that the rural economy is not further disadvantaged. The situation evidently puts businesses at a disadvantage.”
One of her constituents, Mike Kirwin, who runs his own business bringing internet to music festivals, said: “It’s putting a huge stress on my business and regularly puts me at a disadvantage. One of my neighbours gets up at 4am to do his paperwork because it’s the only time he can get usable internet.”
Another business owner, Pryderi ap Rhisiart, who runs a glamping firm in Llwyndyrys, near Pwllheli, has also had major problems.
“We have to keep our website up to date and take bookings through it. It was so bad one night I had to go to Wetherspoons just to get a connection,” he said.