NEWS that ‘superfast’ fibre broadband will come to Ceredigion sooner than anticipated has been welcomed by AM Elin Jones, who has campaigned for better internet access for the county.

The ‘superfast Cymru’ programme, carried out by BT on behalf of the Welsh Government, will begin in June next year in Aberystwyth, with work beginning in September in areas around Llandysul and Pontsian.

By December 2014, work will start in most of the Cardigan area, as well as Aberporth, Ponterwyd, New Quay, Llechryd and Newcastle Emlyn.

However, so far there is no date for work to start in Llangrannog and Rhydlewis.

Ceredigion AM Elin Jones has lobbied the Government and BT on the timetable for superfast broadband in Ceredigion for many months. Many people helped her campaign by measuring their own internet speed to plot an interactive broadband map of Ceredigion.

Elin Jones said: “I’m pleased that the majority of Ceredigion now has some certainty over when the work to install superfast fibre broadband will begin. It’s been a long campaign, and I’ve held several meetings with Welsh Government and BT officials.

“Broadband is crucial to the future – our businesses need to have proper connections, and a poor internet speed is hardly likely to help keep young people in our area.

“There are still areas, though, where it’s uncertain when the superfast rollout will start. I’ll be continuing to press the case for the areas covered by the Llangrannog and Rhydlewis exchanges.

“Also, it’s imperative that all the main villages in Ceredigion will benefit from the faster service. Some places, such as Beulah, suffer from poor service because they’re far from the exchanges – I’ll be asking for certainty that these places will benefit from the superfast rollout.”