Superfast Cymru Roll-Out Under Scrutiny
Members of Denbighshire County Council’s Performance Scrutiny Committee have called for assurances from BT that the roll-out of the Superfast fibre broadband project will be completed as quickly as possible, with calls for communities to be better informed on whether or not they will be able to access the service.
The Committee invited representatives from BT to discuss the Superfast project, their future plans and other initiatives available to improve connectivity for businesses and households unable to benefit from the Superfast Cymru programme. Superfast Cymru is a joint initiative between BT and Welsh Government.
An invite was also extended to representatives from Welsh Government but no one was available to attend.
At the meeting, BT reported that 77% of Denbighshire’s properties were now able to access superfast broadband, either through the Superfast Cymru project or through earlier commercial fibre broadband rollouts. They advised that around 25% of customers able to access the service had taken it up so far. They also confirmed that their target is for 95% of properties in the county to be able to access the service by June 2017, with download speeds of at least 24 megabytes per second.
This would leave 5% of Denbighshire properties unable to access the service, due to their remote locations. The BT representatives attending the Scrutiny Committee agreed to seek permission from Welsh Government to share information with the Council on which properties those would be.
Rebecca Maxwell, Corporate Director – Economy and Public Realm, said: “The meeting was a constructive one and we were grateful for the opportunity to put our questions and concerns directly to BT. We now feel better informed about the extent of the scheme and proposed roll-out dates, as well as the challenges faced by BT in the roll-out and ensuring that as many Denbighshire residents as possible can access the service. Ideally, we would like the remaining roll out to be completed more quickly, but we understand the scale of the engineering task BT faces in connecting the next 18% of properties in the county. BT assured us that wherever possible they would bring forward the completion dates. As it stands most of the remaining properties in Denbighshire that BT consider can be connected won’t see that happening until next year (2017).
The main frustration raised by residents who contacted us ahead of the Scrutiny Committee meeting was completion dates being delayed time with no clear communication from the Superfast Cymru project. We were advised that more detailed information is now available on the project’s website using an address checker tool.
“The Committee particularly felt that BT needed to improve communications with residents, providing direct information on when upgrades will happen and whether or not properties would be able to access fibre speed broadband as part of the roll-out.
“Broadband access is critical to the success of local businesses, providing them with an opportunity to be competitive in the customer market. It is also vital for residents from a social and wellbeing aspect. That is why we wanted to meet with BT, to ensure that Denbighshire communities could exploit the latest technology as quickly as possible.
“The Council has offered to work with BT to help publicise the scheme to local communities and direct people to the relevant, most up to date information. This will complement the work we are already doing with Superfast Business Wales to ensure our local businesses are aware of the many benefits that superfast broadband can bring to their bottom line.”
Spotted something? Got a story? Email News@News.Wales
