Several rural Welsh (UK) villages including Beulah, Ystrad Meurig (Ceredigion), Cil-y-Cwm and Llanfynydd (Carmarthenshire) look set to benefit from faster broadband internet connections following a new joint pledge by BT and the Welsh Assembly government.

The effort is part of the joint Regional Innovative Broadband Support Scheme (RIBS), which seeks to tackle any remaining "not-spot" locations in the country. So far it has helped to broadband enable 8,500 premises in Wales.

However despite some successes the scheme has faced criticism for being too slow to tackle all of the remaining "not spot" areas. Most recently a pensioner living in the rural Welsh village of Salem near Llandeilo (Carmarthenshire) was quoted £150,000 to have broadband installed (here).


We note that Reynalton and Saundersfoot in Pembrokeshire, Llanpumsaint and Bronwydd Arms in Carmarthenshire, Cilcennin in Ceredigion and Gwytherin in Conwy also gained broadband under the same RIBS scheme last year. This is good news but that still leaves several hundred communities left to go.

Broadband Notspot Registration Wales
http://www.bbwo.org.uk/broadband-3161

UPDATE 8th June 2010

Forgot to mention that the aim is to complete this new work by the end of the summer. We also have a comment from BT.