Ceredigion AM Elin Jones, has welcomed the news that ‘superfast’ fibre broadband has arrived in parts of Aberystwyth. But the local Assembly Member warned that more progress was needed for the rest of the county.

Following engineering work over the past few weeks, residents in Aberystwyth are now being advised by the Welsh Government’s ‘superfast Cymru’ website to check availability with their internet service provider.

But the news comes as some areas of Ceredigion – including parts of Waunfawr only a mile from Aberystwyth town centre – were identified by comparison website uSwitch as having some of the slowest broadband speeds in the UK.

Elin Jones, local Plaid AM for Ceredigion, said,

“Ever since the start of the Welsh Government’s Superfast Cymru programme to upgrade internet connections, I’ve been lobbying for Ceredigion to be completed at an early date, and for as many homes as possible to be included in the roll-out.

“It’s good to see engineers at work in many parts of the county, installing fibre cable, and I would encourage people living in Aberystwyth now to contact their service providers to see if they can get the latest superfast service. Most exchanges in Ceredigion are due for the upgrade over the next twelve months.

“But much remains to be done. There are many calls to my office about problems with slow broadband speeds, and it’s sad – though no surprise – to see some areas of Ceredigion appearing in uSwitch’s data on slow connections.

“I’ll be continuing to press the Welsh Government and BT to accelerate its programme throughout the whole county over the next year, including the handful of exchanges where the work doesn’t yet have a firm start date. It’s imperative that Ceredigion, including rural areas where broadband connectivity is such a problem, can take advantage of the latest communication technology.”