A Mid Wales Assembly Member has today (11th February) chaired a meeting with BT’s senior management to discuss a range of telecoms related issues including the on-going rollout of fibre broadband in Wales.
Russell George, the Assembly Member for Montgomeryshire, who is also the Chair of the National Assembly’s Cross Party Group on Digital Communications, hosted the meeting in the National Assembly for Wales and was pleased to hear from the Managing Director of Openreach, Kim Mears, as well as the Director of Superfast Cymru, Ed Hunt and the Director of BT Wales, Alwen Williams, on the measures which they are taking to address concerns about outstanding telephone and broadband faults as well as providing an update on the progress of rolling out fibre broadband in Mid Wales.
Following the meeting, Mr George said:
“I was pleased to be able to welcome BT’s senior management to the National Assembly for an in-depth discussion on some of the challenges which still exist in resolving telephone and broadband faults in a timely manner.
“I raised a series of issues including the unacceptable situation that several constituent have been waiting for months to have their phone lines repaired. I was pleased to hear that they said that this was totally unacceptable and measures would be taken to improve the way in which faults are dealt with.
“The meeting was constructive and I was provided with assurances that communications channels with Openreach will improve to ensure that faults are quickly addressed and I have now been provided with a clear point of contact which will allow me to escalate constituents’ concerns and issues without being passed from pillar to post.
“On the ongoing rollout of fibre broadband, I was pleased to hear that many areas of Wales are set to benefit from a fibre to the premises solution which will provide ultrafast broadband speeds, but amidst all this good news, I stressed the importance that Mid Wales must not miss out from this much-needed investment in infrastructure.
"I also raised the issue of the lack of a definitive timetable for the rollout of superfast broadband to the remaining premises which are yet to be enabled, and the Superfast Cymru team assured me that it will now begin to provide long overdue clarity on those premises who will definitely miss out so that they can make alternative arrangements.
“I was also alerted of a new Community Fibre Partnership, which means that any community, which finds themselves outside the scope of the Superfast Cymru project, can approach Openreach for match-funding to bring fibre broadband to their area. This is a scheme which a number of rural communities in Montgomeryshire could benefit from.
“Overall, it was a highly productive meeting and I now look forward to action being taken by BT to resolve faults as quickly as possible and make further progress on the Superfast Cymru project in Powys.
“I have accepted their offer to return in the near future to provide a further update, because I’m keen to ensure that they are held accountable to their commitments. As always, if anybody has an issue or concern relating to their broadband or telephone service, please don’t hesitate to contact me.”