The jungle book

The village of Powys will be connected as part of a broadband campaign

PLANS to bring superfast broadband to the New Radnor area are moving forward, with interest in the program high.

While Powys County Council has announced in recent months that funding has been secured to bring fast broadband to several of the more remote areas of Powys, New Radnor Community Council has taken the decision to claim their own claim to speed up internet connectivity in the region in October, registering their own interest in the scheme.

Progress has since accelerated, with the council announcing in late January that local community expressions of interest had reached 33% above the minimum response required and the project can now move on to the next stage.

The New Radnor Community Broadband Scheme Facebook page was created by the Community Board following an original meeting in October 2021, with rural broadband specialists Broadway Partners selected as the company chosen to undertake the project.

“Broadway Partners are currently drafting updates for those registered. To clarify the next steps from now on, a business case will now be written for our project,” the board said via the program page.

“Once the business case is completed, it will be presented to Broadway who will need to approve it before it goes to their management team.

“Once these steps are complete, the final funding application will be written and ready to submit to the UK Government. Thank you to everyone who signed up, helped sign people up or simply helped spread the word about the project. ”

Initially supported by Arwain, a collaboration between the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the Welsh Government, the pilot projects have now received funding from the UK Government through its Rural Gigabit Voucher Scheme and the Welsh Government’s Welsh Top Up .

Broadway Partners said: “We have had a good level of interest in our plans to bring fiber to New Radnor so far and recently reached the minimum number of signups needed to take the next step.

“Now that the community has reached the minimum number of registrations, we will work hard to plan the project and in due course send our request for funding to the UK government, this is most likely when you will receive your next update on our side.

“We will continue to meet regularly with the New Radnor Community Council who are working with us on this project and have been key in moving the project forward at this stage.

“Thank you again for your support on Broadway and your interest in our fiber service, we will be reaching out to you in the months to come.”

You can always register your interest in being connected to ultra-fast broadband at an affordable price.

Email Council Clerk Tracey Price at [email protected] or visit the council’s website at www.newradnor.net if you would like information on the project. You can also visit Broadway Partners at www.broadwaybroadband.co.uk.