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Plaid pledge to 'connect Wales'
2011-03-26 15:02:56
26 March 2011 Last updated at 14:25 Share this page Delicious Digg Facebook reddit StumbleUpon Twitter Email Print Plaid Cymru: Mobile phone masts plan to 'connect Wales' By Daniel Davies Political reporter, BBC Wales News website Plaid's Elin Jones said her party wanted to 'connect Wales' Continue reading the main story Related Stories Jones calls for 'end to excuses' Wales 'is exploited for energy'
Plaid Cymru would erect mobile phone masts on publicly-owned land to improve reception across Wales.
Rural Affairs Minister Elin Jones told Plaid's spring conference the party wanted to "connect Wales" with better mobile signals and broadband.
A Plaid government would legislate for a new planning system, she added.
Plaid did not want to preserve a "picture postcard countryside". "We are a party that wants a living vibrant countryside," she said.
Ms Jones said some communities were so frustrated by the lack of mobile phone signals that they were erecting their own masts.
If it is in government after May's assembly election, she said Plaid would install masts and offer them to telecoms companies to "plug gaps" left by the private sector.
Land near schools and hospitals would be excluded, but she suggested publicly-owned forests as potential sites. Television transmitters could also be used to extend broadband coverage, she added.
"Plaid Cymru will not allow areas of Wales to be left behind - we want all of Wales connected," she said.
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