Tavish calls for high speed broadband

SHETLAND MSP Tavish Scott is urging the new culture secretary Jeremy Hunt to look north for a high speed broadband testing project.

Earlier this month, Mr Hunt announced the government’s aspiration to have the “best superfast broadband in Europe”.

Mr Scott, the leader of the Scottish LibDems, reminded him yesterday (Sunday) that Shetland would be a good place to give one of the three pilot projects announced for rural areas to the isles.

In a letter to the culture secretary, he said Shetland would appear to be an ideal location for one of the projects.

“It has the double advantage of a new fibre optic subsea cable link to the Scottish mainland, and a population living in a number of islands many of whom are currently out of reach of even moderate speed broadband.

“With roughly a third of the islands’ 22 000 population living in Lerwick and the remainder living across the islands in villages and out in the countryside, Shetland can offer an ideal test bed for high speed broadband and its impact on rural communities with varying levels of remoteness.

“The benefits of high speed broadband to those living or running businesses in Shetland would be considerable. These benefits would help to offset some of the problems which Shetland’s internal geography and its location, far to the north of the Scottish Mainland, creates,” he wrote.

Speaking on Sunday, he added: “I am sure that there will be keen competition to be chosen as one of the rural areas to benefit from these pilot projects.

“But with the benefits the pilot could bring to Shetland businesses and residents and the fact that, we have the Faroese Telecom fibre optic cable link, the Shetland case is a strong case.”