More broadband improvements due
FURTHER improvements to Shetland’s broadband network can be expected after BT signs a contract with Highlands and Islands Enterprise to roll out greater bandwidth across the region next year.
Though the £120 million contract is far too small to provide next generation broadband to small communities, HIE and BT intend to introduce speeds of more than 30 megabits per second (mbps) in every part of the region, including Shetland.
Speaking on Tuesday morning, BT Scotland director Brendan Dick said he could not go into any details about which parts of Shetland would benefit from the roll out, though it is expected to be “hub” communities such as Lerwick, Scalloway, Sumburgh and Brae.
Monday’s announcement that BT has invested £8 million in a fibre optic link throughout northern Scotland, removing Shetland’s dependence on a microwave link, will provide a foundation for further improvements.
Dick said it had taken the best part of a year to carry out the design work to ensure the service remained as dependable as the service in Edinburgh across more than 600 miles of cable.
He said the investment would also allow BT engineers to stabilise the broadband connection for people living in remoter parts of the isles.
“Lerwick will have up to 20 megabits per second, but the fibre will give our engineering workforce a real opportunity to provide a more better service across the islands.
“It won’t provide greater speeds but it should make the reliability of those speeds better – less up and down.”
Meanwhile large businesses will have access to much faster speeds at a much reduced cost through BT’s new Ethernet service in Lerwick, that will be accessible to the oil industry in Sullom Voe.
Dick said he would like to see the SIC collaborate with BT and HIE to maximise the benefit of next year’s roll out across the isles.
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The Highlands and Islands could emulate Cornwall, which has seen the biggest public investment in broadband in Europe, by working together to get the most out of the investment, he said.
BT has invested almost £80 million in the Cornwall development, with a further £53.5 million coming from the European Regional Development Fund.
Initial targets have been exceeded by collaborative working and building in flexibility, Dick said.
“My personal view is that the best way forward is for a much stronger triangular relationship between HIE, BT and SIC as part of the bigger HIE project – that will get the most bang for the bucks.
“It’s going to take a long time to get to small communities, but once we start to roll out the programme one of the things I am very keen to see is some capability to facilitate communities to do stuff that might hook them up.
“It is certainly worth exploring finding ways to help communities engage to make deployment easier. Councils have potentially a big role to play.”
Northern isles MP Alistair Carmichael welcomed BT’s latest investment, saying it was “an important step towards faster internet connections for people right across the Isles in future”.
Shetland MSP Tavish Scott has promised to approach the telecoms regulator Ofcom about why islanders pay the same rate for broadband as people on the mainland when the service is far poorer.
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