BT Patches Welsh ‘Not-Spots’

Four rural communities in Wales that have previously struggled to get online are to be provided with super-fast broadband by the end of summer, as a result of a new deal between the Welsh Assembly and BT.

The initiative is part of the Regional Innovative Broadband Support Scheme (RIBS), which seeks to connect any remaining so-called broadband “not-spots”. The scheme has helped about 8,500 premises in Wales to get online since 2006. Beulah and Ystrad Meurig in Ceredigion and Cil-y-Cwm and Llanfynydd in Carmarthenshire will now be linked to the national broadband grid.

“Access to the digital world is crucial in a modern global economy and we cannot afford to leave anybody behind,” said the Welsh Assembly’s Minister for the Economy and Transport, Ieuan Wyn Jones. “Top broadband links are vital for developing the knowledge economy, improving the ability of businesses and individuals to network and innovate.”

“Not only is fast web access a feature of many households but it is essential that businesses are fully equipped with first-class ICT infrastructure to compete successfully in a global market,” he added.

Rural broadband still a problem

The news follows reports last month of a pensioner living in the rural Welsh village of Salem near Llandeilo being quoted £150,000 to have broadband installed. “I just laughed, I thought it was ludicrous in view of their profits,” Beverley McCartney told BBC News. “I phoned BT and said surely this is a typing error and the girl said ‘No, there’s been no mistake, other people have had bills for much more than this.’ ”

Last week the European Commission urged BT open up its fibre optic network to rival Internet Service Providers (ISPs), in order to give the ISPs control of the ‘last mile’ connection to its customer’s home. Currently BT can dictate how competitors access the new fibre optic network.

However, question marks remain over how to fund the rollout of fibre to more remote locations in the UK. The Labour party previously proposed a broadband tax that would push fibre coverage to 90 percent, but that tax was only expected to raise around £175 million a year, and attracted much criticism from the industry who said the numbers did not add up for providing super-fast fibre services to every UK home.

The current government plans to use part of the BBC licence fee to build a nation-wide broadband network, but the Communication Workers Union regards the plans as implausible and unrealistic. A report published by broadband researchers in March also suggested that Tory plans may bring in less investment than is needed to meet demand in its own rural heartland constituencies.

In the meantime some rural communities in the UK have opted to pay for the installation of fibre themselves, especially in those areas where rolling out fibre is not deemed to be economically viable.

In the Rutland village of Lyddington, Rutland Telecom raised £37,000 to add its own a cabinet to the BT network, offering speeds of 25Mbps – around ten times the UK average. Lyddington was part of the 30 percent of the country which has no prospect of fast broadband, described as the “land that Digital Britain forgot”.

Virgin, meanwhile, is testing broadband over telegraph poles.