News / Fibre link switched on
BROADBAND services in Lerwick have just got faster after telecommunications giant BT said they had hooked up their new £8 million fibre transmission link running from Shetland to Inverness.
BT Scotland director Brendan Dick said broadband users in Lerwick had been given “an early Christmas present” as the service had not been expected to become available until January.
BT will be able to provide speeds of up to 20 megabits per second, much faster than anything previously available in the isles.
Other internet service providers will migrate customers over the next few months.
The new fibre link will also make the internet service for all other users in Shetland more reliable as it will replace the microwave radio link that has had made connections vulnerable to changing atmospheric conditions.
The microwave link will be maintained as a back up.
Lerwick is also being upgraded to the latest generation Ethernet network which offers speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second for business and public sector organisations.
“The new cable will also play a major role in any future deployment of fibre broadband and even higher speeds in the north of Scotland,” Dick said.
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