Anglesey villages go global

Four Welsh communities are to be linked to a local network in a pioneering European Union initiative. Alan Stewart reports

Small businesses and community groups in Anglesey will soon be linked together on a local network known as "Menternet" (Welsh for "Enterprise Network"). As well as local information, Menternet will bring e-mail, discussion forums, Internet access and, eventually, electronic commerce.

"The main point of the project is to allow people to use new technology to do things that will help them economically and as a community that they otherwise wouldn't be able to do," says Dr Kevin Donnelly, chairman of the Llanfairpwll Community Association, the charity managing the network.

"We're aiming at the local craft-worker or self-employed person, who produces Welsh love spoons or slate jewellery," he explains. "By going on to the Internet, they have a better chance of expanding their markets. They couldn't normally go and present their work in the US, for example."

Mike Squire, who has a greetings card business, agrees. "There are so many little businesses ... it only needs a single page per business to be able to sell things."

"We're thinking about people such as plumbers and carpenters, who can see the sense in advertising in a new medium," adds Dr Donnelly. "Also farmers, who tend to be isolated individuals."

Some of the funding for the Menternet project comes from a European Union programme called Leader, which aims to encourage small pilot projects, largely actioned by local groups themselves, that will have an impact on developing the local rural economy. Additional funding comes from Anglesey County Council and the Welsh Development Agency.

"This project is a good way to use money to get people involved," says Dr Donnelly. "We've been running courses, and had no trouble filling them. If there is some pay-off in terms of economic activity or community development, it's been a cheap way of doing it, and if it works, it has relevance to other areas of Europe."

He points out that Anglesey is a Welsh-speaking area, and that all the pages on the Web site will be in both Welsh and English. "It's also important for young people to see that Welsh can be used in a modern setting, and is not just the language of the chapel," he adds.

Menternet will have four "telematics centres" (at Llangefni, Llanfairpwll, Amlwch, and Niwbwrch), each with five Tektronix network computers connected via leased lines to a server running a version of Citrix's WinFrame software. All the applications run on the server, with only display information sent to the network computers.

"The main advantage is that users can run popular Windows applications and access the Internet just as though they had a powerful PC on their desktop," says Stuart Brown of Cheshire Data, which supplied and installed the system. "Home PC users will be able to dial in by telephone."

There will be two charge bands for using the telematics centres: a basic band, and a concession band for students, people on low incomes and the unemployed. If 10 hours' usage is bought in advance, the cost will be about pounds 2.35 per hour at the basic rate, and pounds 1.40 at concession rate.

"We may arrange a special evening for the Women's Institute to come along and see it," says Elaine Green, who has already tried the network. "You quickly develop confidence; once you get started, there's no stopping you."

Melanie Jones, secretary of Llanfairpwll Community Association, is also enthusiastic. "It's a great opportunity for a place this size to have such a wonderful facility," she says.

Mike Squire expects that people looking for jobs will meet to look at job links and upload their CVs, while Elaine Green would like to exchange views and information about what is happening locally.

The Menternet project is certainly a striking demonstration of the power of the Internet to change people's lives. Not only can it bring the people of Anglesey closer together, it also provides a fascinating glimpse of the future, with hitherto remote communities able to use the Internet to plug in to the "global village"n

Menternet

http://www.menternet.org.uk