What progress has been made in the roll-out of fibre optic broadband across rural parts of Wales specifically to address poorly connected areas in Wales, and to improve connectivity for small businesses that are run from home?
The UK Government has primary responsibility for broadband policy but we continue to step in where the market and UK Government have failed to act. Our Digital Strategy for Wales outlines how we will continue to use the levers at our disposal to support businesses, homes and the public sector in Wales to receive the connectivity they need. We are currently rolling out full fibre broadband to a further 39,000 premises across Wales by 2022. To date, 20,000 connections have been made and work to deliver the remaining 19,000 continues.
In addition I announced the introduction of the £10m Local Broadband Fund in 2019 to address communities and small businesses in hard to reach areas. This fund, which is open to local authorities and social enterprises, will continue until at least 2024. The other options available are the top-up to the UK Government’s Gigabit Voucher scheme and ABC voucher scheme.