FIBRESPEED believes wireless technology is ready to deliver better broadband to rural businesses and communities across North Wales.

The network’s General Manager Graham Leach argues that wireless technology is the best way to service rural areas and meet the Welsh Government’s target of providing fast broadband access to all.

Several North Wales communities and a number of rural businesses are already enjoying improved broadband thanks to affordable wireless connections to the network.

Last week FibreSpeed gave evidence to the Welsh Affairs Committee’s Broadband in Wales inquiry. It heard that lack of broadband was a barrier to business in rural areas of the country. Graham says it is critical that business and community leaders contact Internet Service Providers to generate demand for a wider roll-out of wireless broadband. “Wireless extended off a backbone network such as FibreSpeed can deliver broadband to rural areas, in the shortest possible timeframe, and is both affordable and feasible,” he said.

“The FibreSpeed project has already proven this to be the case. Service Providers are connecting rural businesses and communities - some of them broadband ‘not-spots’ - using wireless methods.

“It’s a viable business model for the Service Providers, it’s affordable for the user, and it works. What we need is more demand for the service. The more there is, the sooner a service can be offered.

“The Welsh Government’s recent extension to the broadband support scheme should assist in this and as such is a very welcome move.”

Former broadband black-spot Rhiwlas, a village in the hills above Bangor, is the latest rural community to connect to FibreSpeed using wireless technology. The wireless ‘signal’ is taken from the network at Parc Menai via equipment at Vaynol Hall to an antenna in the village.

More than 100 homes in Rhiwlas have replaced outdated dial-up access with a 2Mbps broadband service. The technology system is capable of delivering even higher speeds without the need for new hardware. So as demand rises, the system can grow with it.

A rural business park in Flintshire, Bretton Hall Properties, has a wireless connection delivering fast broadband to its business tenants, while IT company MWL Systems near Llay has become the latest wireless FibreSpeed user, eight miles from the network.