Connectivity / Investigation underway into internet disruption
A NUMBER of people in Shetland are experiencing internet disruption today (Friday) – with the owner of subsea cables around the isles investigating.
Customers of providers like Vodafone and Sky lost connection earlier this afternoon.
It is understood that Faroese Telecom, which runs the SHEFA-2 fibre cables between Faroe, Shetland, Orkney and the Scottish mainland, is investigating.
Shetland Telecom said on social media that Faroese Telecom reported network problems on SHEFA-2 at the back of 1pm.
In July a fishing vessel was believed to have damaged the SHEFA-2 cable near Orkney.
Some providers were unaffected by the fault on the fibre optic cable, such as BT, but others lost connection.
The SHEFA-2 cable has a number of links – one between Faroe and Shetland, then another from Shetland to Orkney.
There is then another cable from Orkney to the Scottish mainland.
In July it is understood that some providers were able to re-route through the link from Shetland to Faroe following the damage, which was repaired.
Northern Isles MP Alistair Carmichael said: “It is still unclear what the extent of communications disruption is today, let alone the cause.
|I have contacted the various telecommunications companies operating in the isles to understand better what sort of issues are at play and who is affected.
“We have to hope that the disruption will be minimal and short-lived. Even so this will be a good test of whether the promises of more responsive communications from telecoms providers following the problems in the summer will be borne out in reality.”
Meanwhile Shetland Telecom said all of its services are running as per normal.
Faroese Telecom has been contacted for a response.
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