THE coronavirus pandemic has made the need for ultrafast and reliable broadband connectivity now more important than ever in rural areas such as North Pembrokeshire.

These past few weeks of staying at home have seen great social changes in the way we communicate with family, friends and work colleagues.

Pembrokeshire County Council is now working with pilot areas such as the Crymych ward to allow residents, businesses and infrastructure suppliers to get ultrafast, gigabit capable, broadband delivered to homes and businesses with the help of government grants.

Cris Tomos, the county councillor for Crymych Ward said: " This is a fantastic pilot project with public grants available to ensure that all residents and businesses can benefit from getting ultrafast broadband, even outlying farms and remote home workers will see an immense saving by signing up to the scheme.

“With the restrictions on out movements during this coronavirus lockdown, we have been able to use technology to conduct online meetings and talk to our vulnerable family members and friends.

“Having the latest technology in place will allow our communities to recover faster in economic and social terms, therefore if you haven't already, please sign up to the survey to draw down the grant funding for the Crymych ward. This project is about inclusivity – we want everybody to get decent broadband."

“The economic/social benefits include teleconferencing, smart working, new sales markets, remote working, remote medicine, remote security/CCTV, ECO implications of less trace also ultrafast broadband will raise the value of your property. Therefore get your neighbour to fill in the survey too.

“If enough people sign up we will be doing our best to make sure there’s enough money in the pot to reach everybody who wants it.”

To be a part of this you need to complete the expression of interest survey at: https://www.pembrokeshire.gov.uk/broadband-survey