Denbighshire broadband problems due to 'poor communication'

Less than one in four homes in Denbighshire have signed up for Superfast Cymru high speed broadband.

Residents have complained about having "no clear communication" from project officials with rollout completion dates put back, a council meeting heard.

Superfast Cymru aimed to give 96% of homes in Wales superfast broadband by spring 2016.

BT said 77% of Denbighshire properties had access and 42,000 more homes across Wales would by connected by June 2017.

The figures emerged this week during a meeting between Denbighshire council and BT to check progress of the scheme.

BT assured the council that "wherever possible" it would bring forward completion dates.

'Remote locations'

The company confirmed that 5% of Denbighshire properties were unable to access the service due to their "remote location" and pledged to identify those addresses.

Rebecca Maxwell, corporate director of economy and public realm at Denbighshire council, said she wanted the remaining roll-out to be completed more quickly.

"The committee particularly felt that BT needed to improve communications with residents," she added.

"Broadband access is critical to the success of local businesses. It is also vital for residents from a social and wellbeing aspect.

"That is why we wanted to meet with BT, to ensure that Denbighshire communities could exploit the latest technology as quickly as possible."

Ms Maxwell said the council understood the scale of the work BT faced in connecting the next 18% of homes in the county, and said meetings with BT to discuss bringing forward completion dates had been constructive.

The meeting also heard improvements had been made to Superfast Fast Cymru's website and more detailed information on which homes have access is now available on the site's new address-checker tool.