Areas of rural Wales are in danger of being left behind following the decision of the UK government to scrap a proposed levy to fund the roll-out of superfast broadband, Assembly Member Joyce Watson has said. The member for Mid and West Wales accused the government of abandoning residents in ‘not-spots’ after it was left to private companies to provide the funds necessary for the service to be made available to every household in Wales.
Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne announced during his emergency budget that funds which were not used during the digital switchover would be transferred to widen the accessibility of superfast broadband, which is defined as a 40 megabytes-a-second service. However, doubts have been raised by Assembly Members, including First Minister Carwyn Jones, as to how effective this fund will be.
Joyce Watson said, ‘It is essential that superfast broadband is made available to the people of rural Wales, they cannot be left behind. There is no doubt that broadband will be at the heart of communications and business in years to come and creating a disparity between those with access to broadband and those who are denied it is patently unfair.
‘The decision of the coalition in Westminster to hand over the funding of this important service to the private sector places it in danger of being unfulfilled. I am currently dealing with a considerable number of cases across the region that is already having difficulty with their business delivery and who were relying on the Labour Party's proposals to help secure their futures. As a party, we recognised the importance of this service to our constituents and for the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition to put an integral part of modern business in jeopardy for many rural-based businesses is disappointing. I urge the Westminster government to reconsider its decision so as to ensure that households and businesses in rural Wales are not left behind.’
