Wales Far Behind In Superfast Broadband Deployment

Wales has much work to do if it is to catch up to the rest of the UK in its provision of superfast broadband, says the Welsh government.

Simon Jones, deputy director of ICT infrastructure for the Assembly, explained the challenges his country faces when it comes to high speed Internet at the Cloud World Forum earlier this week.

“Wales has historically been pretty poorly served when it comes to telecoms infrastructure,” he claimed.

The Superfast Cymru project is a Welsh government backed project that aims to give 96% of Welsh people access to high speed Internet.

“Elsewhere in the UK, people talk about the final third that can’t get access to superfast broadband – in Wales, it’s the final 50%,” claimed Jones as he explained the challenges his organisation faces.

However, conquering these problems is essential for Jones – to him, a Digital Wales means a smarter, better connected economy.

He leads a team of around 30 staff who are dedicated to improving the principality’s telecommunications and building a first class digital infrastructure.

Wales “Ideally Situated For Cloud Services”

According to Jones, Wales is ideally positioned for the position of cloud service delivery because its entire public sector is already on the same network.

Central government, as well as the wider public sector, has access to a managed WAN (wireless area network) called the Public Sector Broadband Aggregation (PSBA).

Wales is already on the way to tackling its digital standing in the world, said Jones, not only is the PSBA PSN (Public Services Network) compliant, but the opening of an Internet exchange point in Cardiff later this year offers another opportunity to deliver cloud and other technology services more effectively in the country.

© 24N.biz