Shadow Minister welcomes increase in rural Welsh businesses adopting superfast broadband

Janet Finch-Saunders MS – the Shadow Minister for Rural Affairs – has today (October 7) welcomed statistics sourced by BT, which has shown that the proportion of rural businesses adopting superfast broadband increased from 37 percent in 2018 to 57 percent in 2019.

The revelation comes at BT launches its 4G Hub, which uses the EE network rather than a hard line into a building. It delivers Wi-Fi coverage inside a house or business, with typical speeds at around 30Mbps.

In rural areas, BT will look to attach an aerial to the side of the house or building to support broadband speeds. This is because, according to statistics provided by the Welsh Economy Research Unit of Cardiff Business School, six percent of rural businesses were still only able to achieve download speeds of less than 2Mbps in 2019.

Commenting on the statistical increase, Mrs Finch-Saunders, who represents Aberconwy, said:

“A bad internet connection negatively affects all of our daily lives and the effectiveness of businesses. This is especially true for our rural communities, which continue to face a number of longstanding economic and social challenges that are further exacerbated by issues with digital connectivity.

“A reliable broadband connection can play a significant role in community regeneration, especially as more of our lives have moved online. Statistics show that 40 percent of rural businesses made at least half of their purchases online in 2019, with 81 percent of rural SMEs now operating a website to increase trade.

“This is why, earlier this year, the news that mobile operators have agreed a new £1 billion investment programme to increase 4G coverage was so significant. Currently, 79 percent of the landmass in Aberconwy can receive a 4G signal from BT’s mobile operator.

“In the meantime, I welcome BT’s offer to attach a free aerial to support stronger broadband speeds.

“This will be of incredible assistance to businesses throughout my constituency and will help those residents who continue to suffer slow speeds because of Welsh Labour-led Government’s continued failure to ensure that superfast reaches them.”