A ground breaking scheme which helps businesses and householders in parts of Wales without broadband to get online has been extended – but only by a few months.
The Welsh Assembly Government’s Broadband Support Scheme has already benefitted scores of businesses, third sector groups and individuals across the principality.
Support is available for up to £1,000 for premises which have slow or no broadband.
The process is straightforward and the funding is paid directly.
Ruthin-based IT specialists Boyns Information Systems Ltd. has already helped numerous customers, from Moelfre to Merthyr Tydfil, and is urging others to take advantage of the scheme before it ends in September.
Rob Boyns, managing director of Boyns Information Systems Ltd. said: “It’s a fantastic initiative which aims to get rid of Wales’ last remaining broadband ‘notspots’.
“If you have a poor broadband ‘speed’ of less than 2 Mb, or you currently can’t get broadband at all in your area, then you will be eligible for a grant of up to £1,000 to setup a high speed broadband connection.
“It’s now possible to apply and be accepted for the Grant, and for the Welsh Assembly Government to settle the set-up costs with us directly, meaning customers don’t have to cash-flow this payment.”
Rob, whose team are all bilingual, added that the on-going monthly costs of the broadband solution are not covered by the grant, but are roughly the average price for standard broadband.
One business who has already taken advantage of the scheme and had a high speed connection set up through Boyns is Dibley’s Nursery in Llanelidan.
They have seen a real boost in business because of the improvements.
Proprietor Gareth Dibley said: “Our broadband was very slow which limited what we could do and, in this day and age, the internet is a hugely important resource.
“We are miles from the nearest telephone exchange which meant we were really struggling before we took advantage of the initiative.
“We now use an aerial system which is excellent and we do about 50 orders a day via the internet so it has really boosted our business.”
Dibleys has recently installed biomass boilers, which are network ready and will be able to be monitored by the installers remotely over the Internet.
Another person who has benefitted from the scheme is Dave Snape who lives in a rural location outside Ruthin from which he works remotely for a hi tech US-headquartered IT company.
For him a good Internet connection is essential for his work.
He explained: “Our location meant that the best we could get before we took advantage of the scheme was 0.3Mb sporadically.
“Boyns were able to increase that to 8Mb consistently. It is vital for my work and means I can now do audio and video conferencing as well as shared workspace collaboration.
“My wife works from home as well and we’ve two children so it’s been a real lifeline.
“Before, when we had a high speed Internet connection at all we were having to fight over it because it would only support one computer. Now my wife and I can work while the kids play games on their own computer.”
Application forms for the grant can be found at www.wales.gov.uk , alternatively contact Boyns Information Services on 01824 702211 or email info@boyns.net.
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