The call from Ofcom for BT to open up its cable network for competition has today been welcomed by the Farmers’ Union of Wales.
The Union has long been campaigning for internet services to improve across Wales and has voiced its concern in terms of a lack of competition repeatedly to the communications watchdog.
The FUW has collaborated with Ofcom in providing a platform for discussion on the wide ranging communications issues facing rural Wales for many years and has held many wide-ranging talks with farmers and representatives from the communications industry to discuss plans for improvement in the rural areas of Wales.
FUW President Glyn Roberts said: “A lot of work has been done over the past four years to improve services for broadband access and a lot of money has been invested by Welsh Government to improve the ‘superfast’ service - however that service is still not reaching farmers across Wales.
“The FUW does all it can to help members to access the internet and carry out essential online business duties via its county office structure but with ever increasing demands on the farming community to carry out their business duties online more needs to be done to accelerate the process by which these essential services are readily and reliably available all over Wales, not just in urban areas.”
The FUW is fully supportive of moves which encourage the use of online services and has demonstrated this in terms of its support for RPW Online and online SAF submissions.
“However, with access to broadband still well below the national average in many of our rural areas, and farm businesses representing the highest proportion of those with no broadband access, it is essential that the limitations of online services and communications are recognised, and that rural access to broadband is increased.
“Online IACS, BCMS online and EID are just a few examples that farmers throughout Wales require reliable and fast internet connections.
“As a union we cannot stress the fact enough that more needs to be done to help rural communities and farm businesses by providing them with the essentials that every twenty-first century business needs and that includes fixed line access and mobile access throughout Wales.”