Remote villages in Ceredigion plan to build phone masts
Richard W. Jones
Remote villages in Ceredigion plan to build phone masts
Remote communities with no mobile phone coverage are planning to build
their own cellular masts in one of the first projects of its type in
Wales.
A community group in the Tregaron area, in Ceredigion, intends to
lease them back to phone companies, which had seen the area as
commercially unsustainable.
Masts are planned in the villages of Ystrad Meurig and Llanddewi-
Brefi, while a third is set for Tregaron.
The group is to apply for a £150,000 grant to help pay for the first
one.
Duncan Taylor, chair of the Ger-y-Gors Community Forum, said residents
and businesses in the remote area of Ceredigion had learned to live
without a mobile signal, but were "fed up" with it.
Mr Taylor, from Pontrhydfendigaid, near Tregaron, said his mobile
phone cost him £10 per year, but he had never used it in his signal
"dead spot" village.
Mr Taylor said: "We believe this is an important social economic
project that will benefit our community for many years to come. It
will give peace of mind to the local population and the many visitors
who use trails in the rural area where no land-line is available.
"It will bring fast and reliable broadband to a farming community
where government returns are increasingly reliant on broadband
connectivity. Many of our venues offering conference facilities are
also currently losing business due to the problems associated with the
lack of signal.
"Major cellular providers have indicated that leasing space on the
masts is commercially viable for them, whereas providing masts of
their own wasn't."
Mr Taylor said income from the leases would help pay for the
maintenance and the day-to-day running costs of the masts, which will
be owned and operated by a non-profit-making company.
He added: "It seems ridiculous in an era of mobile-led technology that
communities such as ours cannot use mobile phones.
"It is restrictive and difficult for people, especially farmers and
the emergency services."
Llyr Jones, manager of the Bont Pavilion venue in Pontrhydfendigaid,
said poor mobile phone coverage was "holding back" the business.
"The only complaint we get from customers, clients and visitors is
about the lack of mobile phone coverage," he said.
"A few weeks ago we hosted a JRR Tolkien festival and we had people
here from all over the world cut off from the outside world. They all
had to use the village telephone kiosk to make calls.
"The masts will give a huge boost to the area. We will be able to
compete with larger venues because at the moment it's holding us
back."
Two local farms have been selected as the sites for the new masts.
The forum is set to apply for a £150,000 grant from the Welsh Assembly
Government, which will help pay for the first mast in Ystrad Meurig.
It is hoped that will be working by the end of next year, with the
following two masts in Llanddewi-Brefi and Tregaron, which has limited
coverage, planned over the next three to five years.
The group recently received a £4,300 grant from the Communities First
Trust Fund to pay for a second cellular mast survey.
The fund is managed by Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA), and
has funded more than 10,000 community projects in Wales' most
economically deprived areas since it was launched in 2002.
tony sayer
s.com>, Richard W. Jones <ric...@menwithhill.net> scribeth thus
>http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-mid-wales-11141987
>
>Remote villages in Ceredigion plan to build phone masts
>
>
>Remote communities with no mobile phone coverage are planning to build
>their own cellular masts in one of the first projects of its type in
>Wales.
Ha! You couldn't make it up!, all those protesting re phone masts now
people wanting to build their own!!...
Not 1/4/** is it;?..
--
Tony Sayer
Andy Burns
> Richard W. Jones<ric...@menwithhill.net> wrote:
>
>> Remote villages in Ceredigion plan to build phone masts
>
> Ha! You couldn't make it up!, all those protesting re phone masts now
> people wanting to build their own!!...
And wanting a grant to build them with...