Superfast broadband access must be sorted for Mid Wales - AM

The Welsh Assembly Member for the area, Russell George, says that while 85 per cent of residents and businesses are now able to benefit access to the service should be seen as essential and not a luxury.

He said the position is better than it was last year but the focus was to get the percentage up to 100 per cent.

"A higher proportion of premises in Montgomeryshire are still without access to so-called "decent broadband" of 10 megabits per second compared with the average for Wales and in the rural parts of Montgomeryshire, the gulf between the haves and the have nots rises further," Mr George said.

"Broadband is now considered the fourth utility, is an essential part of modern life and is no longer luxury. It is also essential for a thriving Mid Wales economy."

Mr George pledged to keep pressing the Welsh Government and Openreach until everyone in Montgomeryshire had access to superfast broadband.

"It has to be matter of great regret that some communities have been left stranded following the conclusion of phase 1 of Superfast Cymru and it is unbelievably frustrating for constituents to see fibre cables hanging from poles just metres away from their homes without any way to access a fibre broadband service. This ought to be addressed as a matter of urgency."

He said he wanted the terms of reference of the Superfast Cymru programme changed to compel Openreach to prioritise the digital connectivity firstly to those premises which cannot receive a decent broadband connection then those that cannot get 30 Mb/s Next Generation Access approved superfast broadband; and then finally to the remaining premises .

"This would ensure that those premises who most need an upgrade will be provided with decent digital connectivity before those which already receive adequate broadband and are relative easy wins," he said.