Meeting with Welsh Government

On the 8^th September we met representatives of The Welsh Government to discuss grants which might be available to us.

This was a very positive and productive meeting which has given us the confidence to continue with our plans. We ran through the procedures that have to be followed, and discussed both the Superfast scheme for residential properties and the Ultrafast scheme for businesses. Given the speeds that we intend to supply we will easily qualify for both of these schemes, in fact we intend to provide 10 times the required download speed and 33 times the required upload speed needed to qualify for the Ultrafast scheme.

Critical to our plans is that the forms are submitted as soon as possible. The grant scheme does not have too much longer to run and it is likely that we will soon have to set a deadline for when we can realistically receive grants for properties that would like to be connected free of charge. After that date we will still be able to connect properties but there would have to be a charge for this service.

One interesting point to come out of the meeting is that we appear to be the first independent scheme in Wales to provide full Fibre To The Home ‘FTTH’ which will be seen as a case study.

Our Meeting with Emtelle

Emtelle is a company that is able to supply all the ducting, fibre and access chambers that we require. We met them on 5^th September. This was another very productive meeting where we learned a lot about system design and installation.

We have subsequently received a full costing from Emtelle for all the products they are able to supply to us.

The design of our network has changed slightly as a result of this meeting and other factors. We are now looking at installing four spurs, each connecting properties along the individual routes. The current layout can be viewed here myfi.wales/the-plan It is important to note that this only gives an indication of the route we will take.  The final route will depend on a number of factors, the main one being which landowners are kind enough to allow us free wayleaves.

Update on numbers

We now have 118 properties that would like to connect in and around Michaelston y Fedw, and a further 17 at Cefn Mably Park.

If you intend connecting to us please check that your property has been coloured red on the map on our website at myfi.wales/the-plan  If you are not showing as connecting on the map then please fill in the form at the bottom of that page and we will add you to the list. If you can see any of your neighbours that you believe would be interested but have not registered please send them a link to our website so that they can register.

Cefn Mably Liaison

There is a  need to confirm the ownership of the Began Road access Road to Cefn Mably Park.

Company set up

All the necessary forms have been submitted to Companies House and we expect confirmation that the company is officially registered within the next few days.

Internet connection

We have now received two costings for the internet connection that we need to allow us to distribute our service to all properties. We are having a meeting with a third company on Wednesday evening.

Once we have received a quotation from that company we will be able to select our preferred supplier.

Wayleaves

Now that we have progressed our system design we are in a position to negotiate wayleaves with landowners.  This is an area where we need assistance as it is too much work for just a few individuals to undertake.

We are looking to break this work down into four sections that follow the four spur routes and it makes sense that people who live on the individual routes negotiate the wayleaves for their route. If you feel you are able to help with this important aspect of the project please email info@myfi.wales and we will then contact you with further details.

Business Plan

We now have a draft business plan that will be finalised in the next few weeks. This will then allow us to proceed with a share offer to raise the capital that we require to finance the scheme. Please remember that grants will only be paid to our company after we have installed the system into properties and each property can provide proof of the speed to The Welsh Government. Therefore finance is required at the outset to enable the purchase of materials, routers ducting, any contractors etc etc  with which to carry out the installations.

Date of next meeting

Our next main committee meeting will be held at 7.30pm on Wednesday 27th September  in our village hall. All are welcome to attend.