Kirsty calls for action to tackle broadband not spots in Powys (Kirsty Williams AM )

Kirsty calls for action to tackle broadband not spots in Powys

November 10, 2009 12:00 AM

Kirsty Williams AM for Brecon and Radnorshire has called for decisive and innovative action to address broadband not spots in rural Powys.

Kirsty Williams said:" An Ofcom report has placed Wales at the bottom of the UK league table in terms of broadband speeds. Broadband is now just as important as a telephone line; with more and more services being made available on-line, the lack of a good internet connection is essential to day to day life as well as to growing businesses.

"The Assembly Government is failing to ensure the provision of a modern infrastructure for delivering broadband in Wales and in doing so is holding back social and economic development across the country.

"For years Roger Williams MP and I have tirelessly raised case after case with BT, where both individuals and communities, such as Tirabad, cannot access broadband. But all too often we are told that the homes are too far from the exchange and there are not enough houses to warrant improvements to the cabling - in other words it is not deemed commercially viable to provide these communities with broadband.

"We are falling behind Scotland who have recently completed their Broadband Reach (Scotland) project. This has seen large areas of sparsely populated rural areas, with communities miles from telephone exchanges being given access to broadband - in Wales similar communities look on from their 'not spots' with envy.

"The Scottish Executive has achieved this huge task by tendering out to companies which have provided practical and pragmatic solutions from satellites to shared networks. The Welsh Liberal Democrats recently passed a motion calling for the Welsh Government to investigate the feasibility of a scheme in Wales similar to the Broadband Reach Project (Scotland) and I will be lobbying the Welsh Government to take this decisive action."

Notes

Not Spots are places where through a number of possible factors, broadband internet is not available. The most common factor for this is line length. According to Openreach, the commercial arm of BT, broadband can be provided along a standard copper wire up to around 4 or 5 kilometres distance between a home and the telephone exchange. After that, increasing the distance from the telephone exchange makes it less and less likely that a signal can be received for broadband.
The Welsh Lib Dem motion passed at Autumn Conference on the 18th October reads:

The Digital Divide - Brecon and Radnorshire

Conference notes:

1. That Wales is at the bottom of the league table in the United Kingdom, in terms of Broadband Speeds, according to the Ofcom report 'UK Broadband Speeds 2009'.

2. That research recently conducted by the Communication Consumer Panel concluded that households with broadband consider it to be an essential utility, comparable in importance to electricity or gas.

3. That there are still a number of 'not spots' in Wales where Broadband is not available, according to the Welsh Affairs Select Committee. According to Ofcom this is a particular problem for Wales, given its greater proportion of rural homes than in other nations and regions of the U.K.

Conference believes:

1. That the digital industry will constitute a large part of the Welsh economy in the future.

2. That broadband internet services serve an integral and ever expanding role in the lives of Welsh consumers and citizens.

3. That lack of access to broadband is a hindrance to the social, economic and cultural development of the people of Wales.

Conference resolves

1. That the Welsh Liberal Democrats believe that the Welsh Government should investigate alternative methods of providing broadband connection, especially where Wales' topography makes it economically unviable to provide a physical wire-based connection.

2. That the Welsh Government should investigate the feasibility of a scheme in Wales similar to the Broadband Reach Project (Scotland) that seeks to help individuals or communities where broadband is not available.

Kirsty Williams AM