Simon Gibson, a technology expert and former member of Ofcom's UK Consumer Panel, has warned that the biggest broadband issue for Wales is demand as opposed to supply. Recent figures from Ofcom showed that Welsh uptake stood at just 45% of households, which compares with Northern Ireland on 52%, Scotland at 53% and England at 58%.


Gibson added that the same trend was apparent in small and medium sized businesses (SME's) too and goes on to question "whether children in education who don’t have access to broadband are disadvantaged against those who do".

He also welcomed proposals to introduce a minimum universal speed obligation (USO) of 2Mbps throughout the UK by Lord Carter's Digital Britain report, adding that a national audit should be undertaken to assess what technologies were needed.

Ofcom plans to publish a more detailed break-down of regional research later this year, which should help to answer some of the questions surrounding limited uptake.