eXwavia Attacks Welsh Governments Lack of Broadband Investment in Anglesey

Wireless broadband ISP eXwavia has warned that the Welsh Government’s investment strategy for the island of Anglesey (Wales, UK) could result in a “business broadband meltdown” (a reference to the now uncertain future of Wylfa’s nuclear power station) because most of their efforts have so failed to focus upon the regions weak telecoms and internet infrastructure.

The ISP claims that the Welsh Government is “putting significant resources” into the island to create jobs and investment, although it points out that some areas are still being left with internet speeds that are equivalent to dial-up (narrowband).

Annette Burgess, Managing Director of eXwavia, said:

“In parts of Anglesey we have talked to people who have internet speeds barely above the old dial-up and yet they are being charged broadband rates by their providers. We’re aiming to achieve at least 95% coverage of our wireless broadband on Anglesey, which will mean we can offer consumers and businesses a choice of speeds between 4Mbps and 60Mbps. But the conventional wire-based broadband is well below what businesses want in certain parts of the island and that could have a detrimental affect on future investment by existing and new businesses.

We’re dealing with quite a few businesses who have been struggling for sometime to get a satisfactory broadband connection at a reasonable speed in parts of Anglesey. Many of these businesses rely on broadband not just for e-mail, but cloud computing and large scale data handling.”

On the other hand FibreSpeed last year extended the reach of its existing wireless broadband (WiFi) network, which is supported by a superfast fibre optic link, into the Isle of Anglesey (North Wales). eXwavia itself notes that it is currently rolling out wireless solutions across the same area, which also uses this same platform.

Unfortunately Burgess doesn’t make clear exactly what she would like to see changed. Meanwhile the Welsh Government is currently busy thrashing out the details of their Local Broadband Plan (LBP), which may or may not bring some additional benefits to the island.