Broadband News 14th March 2006

BT are going to enable an exchange near You!

For those living in Pantydwr, St Harmon & Llangurig, BT will be enabling your
exchanges in June/July of this year.

Wales to achieve blanket broadband coverage (*important)

Details of other areas within Wales are to be found on the Broadband Wales site Click here for more information from the broadband wales unit.

The Welsh Assembly Government has today announced that the BT Group has been selected to provide the broadband infrastructure for the remaining exchange areas in Wales.

This landmark development is a major step towards 100% broadband coverage – a remarkable achievement that will position Wales as one of the few countries in the world at this level.

The Assembly Government’s Regional Innovative Broadband Support Scheme (RIBS) is designed to enable those areas of Wales described as ‘broadband blackspots’.

This is fantastic news for approximately 10,000 households and businesses who will receive access to at least first-generation (512kbps to 2mbps) broadband services at prices comparable with urban areas of Wales. Work will begin immediately, and once complete, virtually every single household in Wales will have access to broadband for fast downloads, video conferencing, Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) and an infinite range of business and entertainment uses.

The Assembly Government is committed to ensuring that virtually every single individual and business in Wales has the opportunity to benefit from the advantages offered by this technology.

The contract will bring these exchange areas into BT's National broadband network so they can be upgraded to newer technologies, which will effectively level the playing field with all other exchange areas in the country. As faster broadband speeds become more widely available, the exchanges will be upgraded with the same technologies being deployed elsewhere in Wales and the UK, which means that these exchange areas will have the capability to offer ever faster broadband as technology develops.

* The broadband rollout will be implemented in a two-staged approach. Stage one will concentrate on enabling the final exchange areas. Once this work is completed, there will still be a small proportion of the population who live inside enabled exchange areas but still cannot access broadband.

As a result, stage two of the rollout will then focus on identifying these remaining blackspots and exploring ways of bringing broadband to these residents. You should register your details on the Broadband Brokerage website at www.bbwo.org.uk or www.abec.org.uk. This impartial market information pin-point your communitie for future rollout.

RIBS is part-financed by the European Union Objective One Programme through the Welsh Assembly Government.

14 March 2006

For more information, visit the Welsh Assembly Government’s Broadband Wales website at www.wales.gov.uk/broadband.

The Broadband Wales Programme

The multi-million-pound Broadband Wales Programme was launched by the Welsh Assembly Government in July 2002. The Programme aims to achieve a competitive and sustainable broadband infrastructure across Wales by March 2007. Specific targets include increasing access to, and take up of, affordable broadband by individuals, communities, businesses and public sector organisations.

Increased availability and improved uptake of broadband is expected to generate a step-change that will help to underpin the successful transition from an industrial to a modern, knowledge economy.