Connectivity / No update on broadband fix as cable vessel remains in France
PEOPLE in Shetland without broadband since subsea cable damage on Friday are still in the dark over when their connection will return.
The vessel Cable Vigilance has been lined up to repair the cable near to the Orkney coast, but as of Thursday afternoon it remained berthed in France.
The owner of the damaged SHEFA-2 cable, Faroese Telecom, has previously said there is no estimated time of repair for the damage.
The fault on the cable in shallow waters between Orkney and Shetland occurred on Friday afternoon.
It saw broadband provision in Shetland for customers on some providers such as Vodafone, Sky and TalkTalk drop completely.
It echoed similar disruption in July and August following damage to a different section to the SHEFA-2 cable, thought then to have been caused by a fishing boat.
The Cable Vigilance was used back then to repair the fault, as well as in 2022 during another incidence of damage which sparked signification disruption across Shetland.
Households impacted by the latest outage are lacking clear information from their providers, with differing timelines being given – or even none at all.
Faroese Telecom managing director Páll Højgaard Vesturbú said earlier this week that “additional preparations” were needed before repair work could begin.
He added that “given the time of year and near-shore conditions, the operation may take longer than usual”.
Faroese Telecom need permits in place before the vessel gets to Orkney.
One Vodafone broadband customer was told this morning (Thursday) that it could be up to two weeks before their service resumed.
One local establishment particularly affected by the outage has been Lerwick Sheriff Court, which has faced something of a communications blackout.
There are, however, no scheduled court cases this week.
A number of internet providers are signed to regulator Ofcom’s automatic compensation scheme, which should see nearly £10 paid per day of no service after the first 48 hours.
However it is understood that, despite Ofcom saying compensation should paid no later than 30 calendar days after the loss of service is resolved, some Vodafone customers are still waiting for money to land in their accounts for the disruption in July/August.
BT meanwhile has said its services – BT, EE and Plusnet – are unaffected because it uses a back-up cable, which is “operating well and maintaining service for all of our customers on the islands”.
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