Welsh broadband activists declare war on trees

High speed broadband activists are threatening to fell every tree in Wales to achieve their goal of faster internet connections.

Wispa – a group which wants a minimum 20Mbps for all Welsh broadband – claims that trees are less common in areas where Wales has good broadband connections.

Richard Brown, Wispa’s chief operating officer, said his consultancy is raising money to begin the ‘systematic removal’ of Wales’s trees, starting in Montgomeryshire.

“If it takes me to get out there with a chainsaw, then I will,” said Brown. “Rural broadband is an issue that needs resolution, and the Government’s own study says that universal broadband in Wales will deliver £2.3bn to the economy.

“At wispa we are hardly alone in being so frustrated by the apparent indifference that the Welsh Government has displayed in solving the rural broadband issue in Wales.

“Next Generation Broadband Wales is essentially the diversionary tactic of a Government that is either not interested or thinks it is too difficult a problem to fix.”

Brown alleges that the Welsh government is acting at the behest of BT – the only remaining bidder to supply broadband to rural Wales – and is more interested in drawing up a Welsh constitution than solving practical problems like internet access.

He adds: “The trees will be pulped and put into use to make paper for the current activity that does appear to be important to the Welsh Government, the nonsense that is Carwyn Jones’ determination that Wales requires a written constitution.

“It is estimated that the amount of paper that is required to pursue this folly will be roughly proportional to the success of creating paper less offices once the tree removal begins.”