Plaid AM Nerys Evans has welcomed the announcement that two Pembrokeshire villages will receive broadband in the New Year. Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones announced last week that Saundersfoot and Reynalton are to be tackled so that residents and local businesses can make use of the services available through broadband.

Over the last year, Nerys has been registering individuals from all parts of Pembrokeshire who can't receive broadband with the Welsh Assembly RIBS scheme.

Nerys, who is chair of the Assembly Cross Party group for broadband in rural Wales, said: "When you consider that only six villages throughout Wales will be receiving broadband in the New Year it's fantastic news that two of those are here in Pembrokeshire. I'd like to thank everybody who has returned the RIBS registration forms to us so far, as that is crucial when it is decided where vital work to enable broadband will be carried out.

"The response we have had to the questionnaires so far has shown how important this issue is to people in the area. Everybody who has responded wants to have access to broadband and it is obvious that the lack of broadband at the moment seriously affects the local economy. Local companies have told me that it is impossible for them to communicate effectively or purchase goods online, while working parents said that it was impossible for them to work from home.

"Therefore, it is excellent news that these two areas will receive broadband and I'd like to congratulate the minister on his hard work with this issue. What is important now is that we continue with the campaigning in other areas to make sure that they get the same result. "

Leader of Plaid Cymru who is also Minister for the economy, Ieuan Wyn Jones, added: "It is vitally important that businesses and families have good access to broadband in all parts of Wales. The Regional Innovative Broadband Support project is tasked with this, but for technical and commercial limitations it has been difficult to achieve this in parts of the nation. We are working hard to assess the exact scale of the problem and how best to solve it and this announcement demonstrates a commitment to getting the job done

"One of the issues we need to tackle is that it's only possible to identify a notspot when someone tries to order a broadband service and fails to receive it.

"The Assembly Government's on-line notspot registration scheme can now log the details of each broadband failure to build up an all-Wales picture and we urge everyone who is currently unable to get broadband to register on http://www.bnrw.org.uk">www.bnrw.org.uk http://www.bnrw.org.uk">www.bnrw.org.uk> "