A SCHEME to deliver high quality broadband to a number of places in Carmarthenshire has been scrapped.

Broadway Partners – an alternative internet provider – had been working with people in the Carmarthenshire communities of Dyffryn Cennen and Ffairfach, Llanegwad, Llanfihangel Aberbythych, Abergwili, Pontargothi, Laugharne and Meidrim for a number of months to provide them with decent broadband provision.

However, at the end of May 2023, Broadway Partners went into administration, but just a few months later it was back on track as in September, the company was acquired by Voneus who stated that the projects would continue.

However, this week, it was revealed that Voneus has now decided to not go ahead with these projects according to correspondence seen by the South Wales Guardian.

Carmarthenshire MP Jonathan Edwards has called for the UK Government to act as the communities have been let down and will now be under the UK Government’s Building Digital UK (BDUK) Project Gigabit, which is considering options for the communities in Wales.

A Voneus Broadband spokesperson said, “We agree no rural community should just settle for ‘adequate’ broadband. We share Government ambition to provide gigabit-capable connectivity to rural areas and that’s why we’re investing millions of pounds across the UK in pursuit of this goal.

“Following our acquisition of Broadway Partners from administration in September, it was necessary to carry out due diligence across its existing network and regrettably this has resulted in the hard decision not to proceed to build our full fibre network to a small number of areas based on commercial viability.

“These areas will now be part of the BDUK procurement activity in Wales as we continue to work closely with BDUK with a plan to provide a significant number of homes with gigabit capable broadband across rural Wales in the future.

“Following a successful project to bring Gigabit broadband to rural communities in England with our Gigabit Wireless network, we plan to roll-out this technology in more rural areas, including Wales this year. We are already in discussion with several communities including Carmarthenshire.

“The flexibility of this network and the way we can build it has been designed to overcome the challenges and cost of fibre builds in rural areas.”

Mr Edwards has called for the communities to be timetabled for immediate delivery in an Early Day Motion that was tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, January 23.

Mr Edwards said: “It is totally understandable that residents are feeling angry, frustrated, and let down by this latest news. It is a bitter pill to swallow when communities have worked so hard alongside these companies to secure an adequate broadband service, which was in touching distance.

“We hear politicians in the UK and Welsh Government talking about how they are committed to delivering broadband for rural communities, yet, here is another example of how policy decisions continue to fail residents.

“I have previously called for a subsidy scheme to be set up for individuals now relying on expensive broadband provision as their only option. It is also vital that these communities are timetabled for immediate delivery by future project Gigabit procurement for Wales.

“I have written to the minister at the UK Government requesting a meeting as a matter of urgency to discuss the situation.”

The Early Day Motion tabled by Mr Edwards has been backed by Jim Shannon of the Democratic Unionist Party, MP for Strangford, and Chris Stephens of the Scottish National Party who is MP for Glasgow South West.