Powys still in bottom 10 places in UK for poor broadband speeds

Research conducted by consumer organisation Which? found that Powys is in the bottom 10 for speeds in the UK, along with the Orkney Islands, Shetland Islands and Highland local authorities.

Ryedale in Yorkshire and Purbeck in Dorset also made up the bottom five, while Tamworth, Reading, Enfield and Dundee City are among the places where the fastest speeds can be picked up.

The minimum download speed proposed under the Government's Universal Service Obligation is 10Mbps, but the study found the average test in 12 local authority areas didn't reach this speed.

Montgomeryshire Assembly Member Russell George has spent years campaigning for better broadband in the county, and last week called for better work to be done by the Welsh Government to provide higher broadband speeds.

He is holding a Montgomeryshire Broadband Summit at 10.30am on July 17 at the Elephant and Castle Hotel in Newtown, along with Minister for Skills and Science Julie James AM.

Speaking recently, Mr George said the Superfast Broadband scheme in Wales needs to improve.

He said: "The original open market review identified 45,000 premises in Wales that would not benefit from the project but this has now grown to 98,000 – over double the original number.

“The project is also still plagued with communications issues, which see residents being told one month that they’ll have access to fibre broadband by a certain date, only to be told a few weeks later that they won’t receive it at all.

"This is unacceptable and I have sought assurances from the Welsh Government that any successor scheme has a contractual obligation built into it that will see an improvement in public communications.”

It is not just rural areas that have slow broadband speeds. Many local authority areas in big cities are getting below the national average.

The London boroughs of Southwark, Westminster, Lambeth, Hackney and the City of London were all found to be lagging behind the UK average, which was identified as 17Mbps in the report.

Alex Neill, Which? managing director of Home Services, said: "Far too many households across the UK are suffering from slow broadband speeds, which can stop you being able to carry out essential daily tasks.

"We are encouraging everyone with broadband to use our speed checker so people can see if they are getting the speeds that they've been promised by their provider and find out how to complain if their speed is too slow.

"This will also help to further highlight where problem areas are across the UK, putting pressure on Government and providers to help everyone get a good broadband connection."

A Department for Culture, Media and Sport spokesman added: "Superfast broadband is now available to 93% of the UK, and we are reaching thousands more homes and businesses every week.

"These figures don't show what broadband is available - they show many people haven't taken up speeds that are already available to them.

"Thanks to the Digital Economy Act passed last month, we will now directly ensure universal access to high speed broadband for the whole of the UK."

"People can check what speeds are available to them by entering their postcode at gosuperfastchecker.culture.gov.uk."

Mr George's meeting is for community leaders to answer questions of Miss James AM and BT officials, on their plans to improve broadband coverage in Montgomeryshire.

Currently over 645,000 premises in Wales can already access superfast broadband thanks to Superfast Cymru, and by the end of the year this figure is expected to reach 690,000.

A consultation on further work from 2018 onwards is currently talking place. For more information go to https://consultations.gov.wales/consultations/next-generation-access-broadband.