Superfast Cymru Broadband

Part of 2. Questions to the Leader of the House and Chief Whip (in respect of her portfolio responsibilities) – in the Senedd at 2:55 pm on 6 December 2017.

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Photo of Julie James Julie James Labour 2:55, 6 December 2017

Yes, absolutely. So, we're designing the second stage now. We're going to go to procurement as early in the new year as we can manage it so that we have a back-to-back roll-out arrangement with BT as they ramp down from the first one. I'm not saying for one minute that BT will win the second phase, but clearly we want to have a programme that's as smooth as possible. One of the ways that we're looking to do that is to design very specific local solutions in local areas. So, solutions in urban south-east Wales will be very different from solutions in very rural or semi-rural areas in mid and north Wales, for example.

There are some complications in south-east Wales around where the intervention area is for superfast. The Member will appreciate that this is a state-aid intervention, so it's a market intervention, and, for every intervention, we have to prove that the market has failed. So, if it wasn't included in the open market review that we did in the summer for superfast 2, then we will experience some difficulty in including it.

If the Member's aware of anywhere that's experiencing  difficulty that's currently labelled as commercial, I'd be very grateful to hear about it so that we can incorporate that as soon as possible.

There will be a trade-off between getting as much speed to as many people as possible and getting true ultrafast speeds to some businesses that we can also discuss as part of the design of phase 2. In particular, the Member will have heard what I said to Darren Millar, his colleague, earlier around business connectivity. We've also employed a number of business exploitation experts for Superfast Cymru, and they're able to explain to businesses what their best commercial advantage might be. We have several examples across Wales of businesses that have waited patiently for superfast to get to them, and they've received superfast only to discover that it's nothing like adequate for what they need and they could have just upgraded with an ultrafast connectivity voucher years before if only they'd realised. So, we have a number of business experts who tour the country talking to businesses to make sure that that business understands what the connection they might actually want is, and assists them to get the best deal.

I've done a number of roadshows in various constituencies, and I'm more than happy to do one if the Member would like me to in his area. We can get the exploitation programme to do that as well. You can hear that I'm very anxious for businesses to understand what their best advantage is and not to wait for the programme only to discover that they could have upgraded, because we're very anxious that businesses in Wales get the full benefit of the internet, and all of the services and expansion and so on that that can bring, as early as possible. So, the business exploitation advisers are very good at making sure that businesses understand a business plan to get the right connectivity, and what they might get for their money in terms of money that they might contribute to it. So, I'd be very anxious to understand exactly what the detail of it is and to engage with the Member as much as possible.