Halen Môn takes to the taste of ultrafast Fibre Broadband

Established in 1996 by Alison and David Lea-Wilson, Halen Môn has gone from strength to strength and today exports its product globally to over 15 countries with famous fans including former US President Barack Obama.

To improve the service and offer, the company decided to apply for support through the Welsh Government’s Ultrafast Connectivity Voucher and became one of the first businesses in Wales to invest in Fibre on Demand technology, which has enabled them to access broadband speeds of 330mbps.

The Ultrafast Connectivity Voucher helps businesses meet the initial capital costs involved in installing ultrafast broadband services. Fibre on Demand is available in Wales as part of the Superfast Cymru programme.

Changing to a better and faster connection has made a huge impact at Halen Môn and has enabled the firm to employ a remotely based sales manager, who can link in with the business from any location without needing to be based in Anglesey.

Alison Lea-Wilson, co-founder of Halen Môn, said:

“Making the switch to Fibre on Demand has greatly improved our daily working life. It has seen costs go down and we can run all of our gadgets through one strong broadband connection.

“Fibre on demand has significantly improved our connection speeds meaning we can now work through cloud services and make full use of the technologies available which also allows us to engage with customers throughout the world.

“Accessing faster broadband speeds has become essential, a fourth utility, and deciding to make the switch is really paying off.”

Minister for Skills and Science, Julie James said:

“I’m delighted to hear how Fibre on Demand technology thanks to Superfast Cymru is making a real difference to Halen Môn.

“Having access to superfast and ultrafast broadband speeds is becoming increasingly important for businesses throughout Wales and that is why the Welsh Government is investing in providing the infrastructure capable of delivering them.

“Halen Môn is a prime example of how taking advantage of faster broadband can be a real boost to business.

“The Ultrafast Connectivity Voucher is just one of the measures we have taken to support businesses and make Wales one of the best connected countries.

“Across Wales over 647,000 premises can now access superfast broadband as a result of Superfast Cymru, and that figure will increase before the end of the year.

“Thanks to Superfast Cymru, Wales has the best availability of superfast broadband among the devolved nations, with more than eight out of ten premises with access.

“Without the intervention of the programme no premises in Anglesey would be able to access superfast broadband. Today, more than 30,000 can access it.”

Ed Hunt, regional director for Openreach, said:

“The roll out of superfast broadband is making a huge difference to how companies up and down the country do business.

“With faster, more reliable broadband speeds, businesses can expand into new markets or save time and money by doing things, such as downloading large documents, faster.

“Fibre on Demand can enable companies to access ultrafast speeds by extending the fibre-optic broadband connection from their nearest street cabinet to their front door. For some companies, such as Halen Môn that need these faster speeds, this is a great solution.”

Superfast Cymru is the partnership between the Welsh Government, BT, UK Government and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), bringing faster broadband to areas which would otherwise not receive it.

The Welsh Government also runs the Access Broadband Cymru scheme, which can offer assistance to those not able to access superfast broadband by providing grant aid to help them receive it through other technologies.

Further details are available at www.gov.wales/broadband