SUPERFAST CYMRU appeared in the Pembrokeshire County Council economy overview and scrutiny committee to discuss their Superfast Fibre Broadband, which they hope to be distributed throughout Wales by 2016. 

BT project manager, Martin Jones said: “This is one of the most exciting projects I’ve been involved in. BT with other providers started 4 to 5 years ago pushing fibre technology, and is now is 20 million homes and premises in Wales. It is a commercial investment, but Superfast Cymru is here to deliver BT fibre broadband to rural areas as well as urban. We started out in Swansea, Cardiff, Wreham and Newport but did not want to segregate rural areas, so are pushing to reach as many people as we can. It’s quite a challenge, but eventually, Wales will have better connectivity than Japan. “It’s all about social inclusion. This is a massive engineering project. I was in the Three Mariners yesterday and they said they have very poor connectivity, so I told them about fibre broadband and how it could help their business prosper. We are finding we are having to clear out a lot of water and are finding ducts that have not been opened in 50 years, but we are dealing with it. “There is so much more that can be done with Superfact Cymru. Apps, social media, video calling, file transfers, cloud computing, interconnecting PCs and wi fi are all much better and faster with superfast fibre broadband. The key is happy people. We want to give everybody fast connectivity through BT fibre. “Our network is gaining support and working with Pembrokeshire County Council is great to make sure planning in in place and that we get the timings right due to tourism in the summer. It is an open network, therefore it is available to everything. Some press releases have said that Wales in general has poor connectivity, but we want to get the message out there that this is available. Wales tends to start off slow and figures gradually rise when word gets around. We are on Facebook and Twitter sharing information of the roll out and where it’s going”. Cllr John Allen-Mirehouse said: “Everybody is delighted this is happening. But we must remember that this is not a luxury or an option. It is part of our basic infrastructure. If businesses are going to prosper, they have got to have superfast broadband”. Martin Jones responded: “I think Wales is a massive challenge. As it stands no premises are out of bounds of our scope. All premises should be provided with this by 2016. We’re not finding it a struggle, we’re hitting every target”. Cllr David Lloyd asked: “Is there any part of Pembrokeshire that will not be covered?” Mr Jones replied: “I don’t know. There may be places so remote it may not be economical to reach them. We may know toward the end of the project, but realistically, you’re not going to spend £30,000 on one premises that may not take up our services. It’s all down to cost as this costs a ridiculous amount of money”. BT marketing manager, Ceri Fitzpatrick said: “When an area is about to receive fibre connectivity, we will deliver flyers that say ‘fibre is coming’, and once it has been done send out more flyers that say ‘fibre is here’. We’re very excited – it’s such a great project”.