Wales being left behind with outdated broadband - Mick Bates

5.31.55pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 9th Apr 2008

Leading a Welsh Liberal Democrat debate on broadband, Mick Bates AM, founder of the Assembly's Mid Wales Cross Party Action Group on Broadband, criticised the Assembly Government in the chamber today for holding back the development of businesses in Wales and leaving the country in the past with an outdated communications infrastructure.

Commenting Montgomeryshire AM Mick Bates:

"Broadband is now just as important as telephone lines were in the past. Yet the Assembly Government is failing to provide a modern infrastructure for delivering broadband in Wales and in doing so is holding back the development of businesses across the country."

In January 2008 the Welsh Assembly Government awarded a £250,000 contract to the London-based firm PricewaterhouseCoopers to "provide the Welsh Assembly Government with strategic advice on all aspects of the procurement process, and an assessment of the options available to meet the overall aims and objectives of the project."

Mick Bates has highlighted that this is a waste of resources, stating that "I do not understand why the Assembly Government has contracted a London-based company to carry out this work.

"I recently ran a campaign in my local newspaper, the County Times, where hundreds of local residents wrote in to highlight the problems that they face in accessing broadband. The people of Powys know all too well where the not-spots are and this £250,000 would have been better spent providing a better broadband service in rural areas.

"The current broadband infrastructure in Wales will soon be outdated as customers demand faster and faster access. We must focus on next generation broadband such as the installation of over-ground fibre optics, which offer a better solution to the outdated and unreliable copper wires.

"This technology is hardier, more reliable and capable of sending and receiving more information in order to ensure Wales is on the cutting edge and that businesses are on a level playing field. Investment in this technology is vital if we are to develop a future-proof high bandwidth, affordable data communications infrastructure for the future."