The Welsh Government has been told to do more to promote the Superfast Cymru project in order to boost the take-up of superfast broadband in rural areas.

According to John Davies, former Head of BT in Wales, the take-up rate in some parts of the country that were equipped with superfast broadband a year ago is just 19 per cent, the South Wales Evening Post reports.

This, he said, is partly because only £300,000 has so far been spent on marketing the £425 million programme.

“There is undoubtedly take-up, there are undoubtedly benefits accruing now," Mr Davies commented.

“The question is, if more is done on the stimulation side, can those benefits come through faster?”

Superfast Cymru is aiming to make sure that by 2016, 96 per cent of Welsh homes are able to access superfast broadband.

Average download speeds in Wales are currently about 6Mbps, but the rollout of new broadband infrastructure means speeds of up to 80Mbps are on offer.

Mr Davies added that improving connectivity will give small and medium-sized enterprises in Wales the chance to cut costs, boost revenues and become more competitive on both a UK-wide and international level.

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