Upgrade demands as net link fails

Dewi Lewis said the town's telephone exchange is 'unfit for purpose'

Businesses in a town which has lost its broadband connection for the third time in less than a year are calling for the telephone exchange to be upgraded.

Firms in Penrhyndeudraeth, Gwynedd have been unable to connect to the internet since 18 August - the third such incident since November.

Local people have said the telephone exchange is "unfit for purpose".

BT said its engineers were investigating and advised customers to contact their service provider.

But the firms which say they have been affected by the broadband being down, insist the exchange is common to all of them whichever internet service provider they have.

Gwynedd Environmental Waste Services said it was spending around an hour each day phoning and faxing clients instead of emailing them.

'Great demand'

Travel firm Ffestiniog Travel, based on Snowdonia Business Park, said it was unable to use the internet to quote prices on worldwide rail tickets and the situation was affecting their turnover by around £10,000 a week.

Spokeswoman Non Jones said: "People are coming in to book tickets and we're having to turn them away.

County councillor Dewi Lewis said he had received many complaints on the matter.

"The first time this happened was in November, then the system went down in January and now it's happened again in August. This affects businesses, people who bank online and people who are trying to arrange their university courses," he said.

"There is a great demand for broadband by now, but the exchange is clearly not fit for purpose.

"BT are slow to respond. In the short term, they need to repair the kit there, but in the long term they need to upgrade the exchange."

A BT spokesperson said: "We are aware that some customers are experiencing broadband problems in Penrhyndeudraeth and BT engineers are currently investigating.

"In the meantime, customers should contact their service providers if they have ongoing issues or queries."