AN ORGANIC dairy, located in rural Pembrokeshire, is benefiting from superfast broadband thanks to the Superfast Cymru project.
The introduction of faster internet within the business means better productivity, with quicker research able to be done and less time being spent on sending e-mails.
The well-known dairy, Daioni, is located in Boncath and produces organic fresh milk, flavoured milk, long-life milk and cream. Daioni products are sold throughout Britain, as well as worldwide, including countries such as the United Arab Emirates, mainland China and Hong Kong.
Since the beginning of last year, Daioni has benefitted from high-speed internet made possible by a partnership between the Welsh Government and BT, who together produced the ‘Superfast Cymru’ project, which has also been funded by Broadband Delivery UK (BBUK) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
Laurence Harris, founder and director of Daioni, said: “Farmers work mainly outside, and are fairly notorious at being impatient at working inside. High speed internet certainly helps with this. The increased speed also means that we are in a better position to shop around for supplies and compare prices online. Additionally, it has provided quick access to independent research and advice for particular problems that arise during the farming year.”
He continued: “On the Daioni business front, real benefits we’ve seen since taking up superfast broadband include increased employee productivity. Time spent waiting to receive and load emails have been cut in half. Businesses in the Far East expect virtually immediate responses to their emails, a key element in building strong relationships.”
Private internet companies have decided that at present it isn’t commercially viable to have fibre-optic broadband in Welsh counties such as Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire, so Superfast Cymru delivers faster broadband speeds to areas which would otherwise have no chances of receiving it.
The Deputy Minister for Skills and Technology, Julie James, visited the dairy to hear first-hand about the difference the faster internet speeds have made. She said: “It has been great to visit Daioni and hear about the difference superfast broadband has made for them.
She concluded: “Bringing superfast broadband across Wales is not an easy task and Superfast Cymru is without doubt a challenging and ambitious programme. But it is paying off with almost 550,000 in all parts of Wales now able to access it as a result.”
Alwen Williams, Director for BT Cymru, said: “Superfast broadband is having a huge impact on the way we live our lives in Wales. As proven by companies like Daioni, having access to superfast broadband helps business to move, act and trade more quickly and effectively. With fast broadband, businesses are no longer limited geographically to their local markets. International markets are a reality.”
He continued: “When combined with BT’s commercial roll-out we’ve already provided more than 1.24 million Welsh homes and businesses with access to high-speed fibre broadband and we look forward to working with our partners to extend this even further across the country.”
The Superfast Cymru programme is a huge undertaking that will involve laying 17,500km of optical fibre cable and installing around 3,000 new green roadside cabinets. On average, this project currently allows superfast broadband access to 100 more premises every hour across Wales.
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