Bringing community-owned internet — and better job prospects — to Merthyr Tydfil
In 2015, internet access is a necessity, not a luxury. Despite this, ONS data shows that 17% of UK homes do not have any online access at all.
For low-income households, the proportion of homes without internet is even lower. Expensive contracts and poor credit ratings can make it impossible for people in difficult financial situations to get a line from an ISP. Yet the irony is that online access is often exactly what individuals need to have a chance of improving their circumstances.
Not only is the internet a vital tool for job-hunting, it can also enable people to make savings on household bills and cut costs in other areas. For people who are digitally excluded due to financial circumstances, their struggles are only compounded.
Welsh housing association Merthyr Valley Homes, in the town of Merthyr Tydfil, estimates that over a quarter of its tenants do not have access to the internet in their homes. However, it’s hoped that this could soon change. Funding provided by the Nominet Trust has enabled the association to launch an innovative project, aimed at overcoming the barriers preventing residents obtaining internet access from private providers.
A pilot scheme is currently being conducted with 40 homes on the Gellideg estate, with the goal of eventually expanding to cover more than 4000 properties. If it’s successful, it could even serve as a model for other housing associations across the country.
One of the first people to benefit from the project has been Ian Wright, who has worked as a Digital Merthyr installer since November 2014. Previously unemployed, the Gellideg estate resident initially got involved as a volunteer.
“With more and more essential services going online — Universal Credit for example — people need an internet connection”
“I've always been interested in gadgets and technology since being young,” he revealed. “Also, I thought it could be a good opportunity to help out my local community by getting people online.”
“With more and more essential services going online — Universal Credit for example — people need an internet connection, but for most it’s unaffordable. You need a telephone line which can cost between £15 and £20 a month, which to some people is a lot of money.
“Being unemployed by myself at the time, I also knew how hard it was to get a job, and also how much pressure you were under from the Jobcentre to go online everyday to do a job search.”
The Digital Merthyr solution is groundbreaking as it enables people to avoid prohibitive line rental costs. “It’s based on sharing the Internet lease lines of public sector bodies with residential homes,” Merthyr Valley Homes digital inclusion officer Karen Roberts explained. “A phone line is not required.”
“Digital Merthyr enables Internet access via a ‘primary node’ that sits on the end of each row of houses and can supply up to 10 houses. Ethernet cables are then run down the exterior of a row of houses, with each home having a ‘secondary node’ (or router) installed.”
“Merthyr Valley Homes has always taken a holistic approach — to provide affordable infrastructure coupled with ongoing support”
Providing this affordable infrastructure is a core goal, but Merthyr Valley Homes chief executive Michael Owen has explained that the project also has other elements:
“Merthyr Valley Homes has always taken a holistic approach — to provide affordable infrastructure coupled with ongoing support to help tenants acquire the digital skills they need for their own benefit — be it to help their children with their homework, manage their finances, take advantage of free communications applications such as Skype or simply improve the way they communicate with us as a landlord.”
Early evidence suggests that the scheme is already having an impact. “We have plenty of anecdotal evidence from tenants that have, for example, made savings on household bills and have much better access to information and services.”
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