7. 6. Statement: Superfast Broadband in Wales

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:19 pm on 11 October 2016.

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Photo of Julie James Julie James Labour 5:19, 11 October 2016

Indeed, and the Member is indeed a prolific correspondent on the subject, as are many Members in the Chamber. But, yes, I think it is important to recognise the cultural change that’s happened during the course of this programme. In 2013, when we started this programme, amongst the most common comments from people were, ‘Ah, you’ll never get it to us, and we don’t want it anyway. People want to come to’—name of place—‘to get away from it all, and to come offline’ and all the rest of it. That was a common thing said to us, and now the most common thing said to us is, ‘When am I getting this broadband?’ So, those three years have seen a big cultural shift in how people regard it. You don’t come to Wales to get away from it all, you come to have an adventure, and you want to tweet that adventure as you’re having it. And that’s great, but we want to keep pace with that. Again, I want to assure Members that we will get to everybody. It is difficult for the people who are at the end of the programme, but, as with all programmes, some people are at the beginning and some people are at the end. It’s frustrating if you are at the end, but we will get to you.