Pub brings mobile phone signal to Welsh village

Talgarreg, in the county of Ceredigion, has no mobile phone signal but all that is about to change after the Glanyrafon Arms has installed a new broadband service with wifi and a booster.

The traditional pub will double-up as an internet café and customers will be able to use a laptop at the bar or in the function room, which now also features a projector and screen for meetings.

The new developments were paid for by Pub is the Hub and Ceredigion Micro Business Investment Fund.

'It will put us on the map'​

Landlord Hefin Evans said: “We are in a mobile phone blackspot here and having broadband will put us on the map and be a benefit to the village and to our customers who otherwise have to drive a mile to get a phone signal.

“We’re going to have a laptop in the bar so that anyone who wants to can use it to surf the net and it will also be good for us because we can have a website and that should help the B&B side of the business.”

Cadwyn Clwyd rural services officer Helen Roberts, who oversees the Pub is the Hub scheme throughout Wales, said: “This is exactly the sort of community project that Pub is the Hub is all about.

“It’s so important for village communities to have focal points like schools, churches and chapels and pubs and shops too and this is a wonderful example with the pub becoming an internet hub.”

The service Cadwyn Clwyd and Pub is the Hub are offering includes expert advice such as help with business plans and financial assistance.

For more information ring 01824 705802 or e-mail vasb@pnqjlapyjlq.pb.hx​