The quaint Welsh village of Llangwm, a stone's throw from Cardiff and Newport, might seem like an idyllic retreat, but it's a digital desert. Despite its proximity to major cities, the village suffers from poor mobile reception, unreliable broadband, and frequently failing landlines.
Jenny Wells, an online teacher, moved to the village three years ago. She was assured that connectivity wouldn't be an issue.
Speaking to WalesOnline from her charming country cottage in the village, she said: "We were told it wouldn't be a problem when we first moved here three years ago," but added, "But it's just awful."
Jenny has had to cancel numerous classes due to the poor connection. The lack of phone signal makes it impossible to report issues.
This became evident within moments of our arrival in the rural village this week. We came prepared with phone numbers and addresses, only to discover that the locals weren't exaggerating about the lack of reliable phone signal, reports Wales Online.
The Wi-Fi is so inconsistent that residents feel utterly isolated. Jenny explained: "When we moved here we were told the lack of a phone signal isn't too much of an issue because we could get 'super fast' fibre-optic broadband and you can apply to the Welsh Government and the installation can be subsidised,".
"We did get it installed after we did the paperwork. But it's not super fast. In fact, it's shocking. Maybe they should have said: 'Super fast every other Tuesday.' If you go outside and point east and wave a chicken over your head while jumping over a broomstick, maybe you'll get a connection."
Jenny, who relocated with her lawyer spouse amid the pandemic, has voiced that the connectivity woes are "actually quite serious" and deems them intolerable in today's age. "It's not like we're in the middle of nowhere," she says.
"I can't do online banking, I can't pay my bills without it disconnecting, it's a disaster. I've had to cancel loads of my lessons because of it. And I've sometimes had to pick everything up and go to Wetherspoons in Chepstow to work, which is quite inappropriate for my job."
"But the really annoying thing was when my husband's 88-year-old mother was in hospital and we had no Wi-Fi because it had disconnected, which lasted for days on that occasion. So with no phone signal we had no way of knowing anything. It happens all the time."
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In their struggle for a reliable internet service, the couple, along with their neighbours, have resorted to signing up with multiple providers. "We are with Voneus but that connection is very patchy, so we decided to get the BT line installed, but that is really slow as well because they won't upgrade the exchange. So we're paying two lots of charges and they're both bad."
Jenny, who was quizzed on her thoughts about the house purchase in light of the broadband woes, said: "When we wanted to buy a house a primary question we asked was about connectivity. So yes, it would have had an impact on our decision."
Villagers share stories of their struggle with getting consistent mobile coverage, with John Brighouse, relocated from Manchester for proximity to family, lamenting: "It's a lovely place to live other than the ridiculous connection issues. We're always urged to move towards a digital lifestyle and yet we can't get it. You can't get in touch with the doctor, you can't get in touch with the dentist, you can't even make an appointment at the hairdressers. I'm retired, fortunately, but I don't know how people get on here who are still working. It must be a nightmare with all this cutting in and cutting out."
John Bowler, a former architect and long-standing village resident of more than three decades, expresses his vexation over the ongoing digital dilemma, narrating his Netflix nuisances: "When I'm watching a film on Netflix - well, you can't," he explains. "It'll cut out halfway through. It's very frustrating."
With hearing loss and serious health setbacks such as multiple heart attacks, John depends on email and flags missed vital medical appointments due to connection problems.
Voneus, the internet provider, admitted that the network infrastructure they acquired just wasn't up to snuff. They've come out saying, "did not meet our high standards and we are now investing significantly to upgrade the network. We greatly appreciate the community's patience and understanding while we continue to upgrade the network. We are confident the changes we're making will result in a stronger, more dependable network for everyone in the community."
While Wales doesn't call the shots on digital connectivity and telecommunication policiesthat's a job for the UK Governmentthey've got hefty goals to hook up a mighty 85% of UK properties with full-fibre broadband by the year 2025. The plan is to pull this off in Wales trough the gigabit voucher scheme and a nifty thing called Project Gigabit.
Meanwhile, the Welsh Government isn't just sitting back; they're keen to keep up the dialogue with the UK Government, ensuring Wales isn't left in the digital dust.
Big news dropped last month from the UK Government's corner announcing a sizeable £170 million pot of gold aimed at boosting the digital setup for around 70,000 homes and businesses in Wales. True to their word, the UK Government has its sights set on providing full-on gigabit coverage across the UK, including those tricky-to-reach Welsh corners, all by the big 2030.
Peter Kyle, the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, has criticised the UK's broadband rollout over the past decade, saying: "Over the past decade, the UK's broadband rollout has clearly not happened fast enough and has overlooked too many areas, especially in Scotland and Wales. Robust digital infrastructure is essential for growth, productivity and competitiveness and this shortfall not only poses risks to our economic stability, but also entrenches existing inequalities across the country. We are fixing this by delivering for hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses up and down the country, focusing on the areas that were not prioritised by the previous government, such as Wales."
Meanwhile, Cllr John Watkins from Llangwm's village community council highlighted the ongoing connectivity issues in his area, stating: "There is no mobile network in the village at all," and detailing the failed efforts to improve the situation: "It never has worked. We were all originally BT but all the copper cables come from Wolvesnewton which is seven kilometres away. BT took the government's money and dug up all the ground around here where they put in all the pipes for fibre-optic connection, but the money ran out and that was the end of that."
"For the last two and a half years we've had Broadway broadband, which became Voneus. They came in and they used the money to put cables in from a ground line which goes onto a microwave dish and it's microwaved to somewhere else and that's turned back into a fibre-optic signal which comes around the village. So it's a complicated system - the set up is via mostly above ground cables and you'll see them as you walk through the village. They're our link to the world now. But they're often damaged and they cause outages and they're unreliable. One outage lasted for three or four days and another a couple of days. They were two weeks ago."
One local landlord was forced to refund his guests due to the poor internet connection. The situation was so dire he had to drive his guests to nearby Usk just to get a phone signal.
"We've written to the new local MP, the Welsh Government, and the CEO of Voneus to express our dissatisfaction," Cllr Watkins adds. "The village is stacked full of people of various professions and many of them work from home. People are reliant on this for their livelihood. I teach at the university but if the broadband goes down that's a lost lecture."
"I think mobile signal is more of an issue in the village to be honest, because if you lose your broadband you don't have another alternative. Most businesses rely on mobile banking and app systems. The government needs to recognise it has a commitment to sorting super fast broadband across the country. It isn't right that a whole group of people can be cut off."
Rob Stoodley, a local resident, slammed the broadband service as "awful". He recounted his frustration: "If you get a problem they say: 'Give us a call or a text.' I say: 'I can't do that.' Then they respond: 'We'll send an email.' I say: 'I won't get that either.' It's just ridiculous. When you get a storm and the cables are disrupted that's the end of that. We could be disconnected for days."
Catherine Fookes, MP for Monmouthshire, expressed her understanding of the situation: "I know how frustrating it can be if you don't have a good internet connection or a phone signal it can be incredibly difficult doing all those things we take for granted now like online meetings, streaming TV or making video calls to loved ones. I don't live in an area with fibre either and I know it can be really challenging at times. I will take this up by meeting with the villagers, writing to the company concerned and to the minister so we can try and get a big improvement in connectivity for Llangwm."
A spokesperson for the Welsh Government has hit back, saying: "Despite telecommunications not being devolved to Wales, due to a lack of investment at UK level over the past decade or more we have used a range of solutions to support those without access to fast and reliable broadband. Our partnership with Openreach has delivered full fibre broadband to more than 44,000 homes and businesses across Wales, including 1,817 in Monmouthshire. The majority of homes and businesses across Wales have access to good quality digital connectivity, and we are determined to improve digital connectivity further through our Digital Strategy for Wales."
