Homes and businesses in Llanvetherine often have no access to rapid Internet connectivity, despite the installation of super-fast broadband into the village.

Nick Miller of Miller Research and Kieran Chapman of Fircroft Technologies were speaking to Catherine Fookes, Labour candidate for the 2016 National Assembly elections. Catherine was visiting them to better understand the issues affecting small businesses in the constituency ahead of the forthcoming Small Business Saturday, which she is supporting.

Nick Miller said: “Llanvetherine has been struggling with a painfully slow connection for many years now. So we were excited about the possibility of a huge improvement when Superfast Cymru installed a cabinet at the bottom of our track potentially giving us 80mb. Everyone west of this cabinet is connected to it – so they have access to a fast speed Internet. However everyone east of it is connected to a cab a mile and half down the road, which will kill our connection.”

Kieran Chapman added: “The contractors have done the job in such a way as to disadvantage half the people they are supposed to be servicing! This might be the easiest from a cabling perspective but our internet connection is no better than it was before. It’s a massive problem for this rural community, given the numbers of people who need access to the Internet for their businesses and for their personal use”.

They said: “We applaud the fact that the Welsh Government is funding this massive project, but more attention needs to be focused on who is being connected where”.

Catherine has pledged to work with the Welsh Government to ensure Monmouthshire benefits fully from the rollout of Superfast Cymru. She said: “If we are serious about helping rural businesses compete, then it is vital they have 21st century communications”.