WIREDGOV

A local broadband project in Powys is set to receive more than £900,000 worth of funding to help them deliver fast and reliable broadband to communities that need it, thanks to the Welsh Government’s Local Broadband Fund.

The £10 million fund, which was set-up to help local authorities and social enterprises address connectivity issues in their communities has already helped a number of projects in the first phase and will now help a number of further in phase two.

The project will connect 13 ‘hard to reach properties’ in Powys with incidental benefits provided to an additional 139 properties across the county.

The connection will be fibre to premises, which will use fibre run from the exchange direct to the hard to reach properties. The fibre will be split along the route at junctions such as fibre nodes where it will be run to the properties.

Powys County Council’s Leader, Cllr Rosemarie Harris, said:

The news that we have been successful in this bid for funding is really positive and will make a massive difference to residents in six different communities across our vast rural county. We can now prove that while these properties are ‘hard to reach’, they are not ‘impossible to reach’ if the right support is available.

I look forward to us engaging with and supporting more rural communities within Powys as we aim to deliver improved internet connectivity to as many residents and businesses as possible.

Cllr Beverley Bayham, Powys County Council’s Portfolio Holder with responsibility for its Digital Powys programme, added:

We are delighted to have also received funding towards our Community Broadband Team, a marketing campaign around digital connectivity and a technical consultancy that will help with innovative forms of connection.

Deputy Minister for Climate Change, Lee Waters said:

Fast and reliable broadband is more important than ever. While this area is not devolved to Wales we are taking action through our Local Broadband Fund and various other schemes to bring better connectivity to some of the hardest to reach parts of Wales. Good quality digital connectivity underpins everything we do digitally and is the foundation to achieving our ambitious Digital strategy for Wales.

The fund is already delivering a real difference to communities across Wales in its first phase and today I am delighted to announce further schemes that will benefit from this funding.

Broadband is a key utility and we’ll continue to support all efforts to boost connections the length and breadth of Wales.

Local Broadband Fund