
Call for faster progress on rural broadband in Caerfyrddin
Ann Davies, MP for Caerfyrddin, met with Sir Chris Bryant, Minister of State at the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT), to discuss rural broadband and mobile coverage earlier this month.
The meeting, held in Westminster, was also attended by senior officials from DSIT and Building Digital UK (BDUK).
These are the executive agencies delivering the government's major digital infrastructure programmes, including Project Gigabit and the Shared Rural Network.
Project Gigabit aims to provide gigabit-capable broadband to hard-to-reach areas, while the Shared Rural Network is designed to improve 4G mobile coverage in rural and remote communities.
Around 3 per cent of the Caerfyrddin constituency remains in 'not spot' areas where no broadband is currently available.
Ms Davies said: "Reliable broadband and mobile coverage are not luxuries — they are essential services that rural communities rely on to live, work, and thrive.
"Whether it's running a farm, studying from home, or accessing vital healthcare, people in Caerfyrddin must not be left behind."
"I will continue working to ensure that the voices and concerns of our rural communities are heard loud and clear in Westminster."
She remains in regular contact with Openreach, who keep her updated on local infrastructure progress, and she frequently meets with Carmarthenshire County Council's broadband development officer to ensure residents' concerns are heard and acted upon.
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Finextra
11 hours ago
- Finextra
How do we regulate a future not yet written?
0 This content has been selected, created and edited by the Finextra editorial team based upon its relevance and interest to our community. This is an excerpt from The Future of European Fintech 2025: A Money20/20 Special Edition. According to the European Fintech Association, the fintech industry has attracted the largest share of all VC funding over the last five years, worth around $85 billion. This showcases the strong potential of fintech in Europe, and how the sector will be a driver for economic growth – with the industry expecting to grow more than fivefold over 2021 figures (5.5x) and be worth $190 billion by 2030. As fintech increasingly enters the social and economic fabric of Europe, the question of governance is no longer one of compliance with rules. In 2025, new rules such as PSD3, MiCA, DORA, and MiFID II are beginning to converge. 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In Julija Fescenko, head of marketing and communication, Magnetiq Bank's view, 'these combined forces will drive standardisation and foster more innovation-friendly environments, provided implementation does not stifle agility.' The industry should expect regulators stepping in to design digital infrastructure, particularly in relation to open finance. PSD3's extension into safe data portability will broaden, enabling consumers to seamlessly coordinate financial experiences between providers in the future, just like APIs do with software. Narang goes on: 'PSD3's extension into open finance […] is connecting previously siloed financial products into cohesive customer journeys. This could influence the rise of modular finance: hyper-personalised financial 17 services constructed dynamically through regulated data-sharing protocols.' 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