Faster broadband a step closer as EU approves radical plans

Radical SIC plans to improve the isles’ broadband infrastructure have cleared the latest hurdle after the European Union granted state aid clearance.

Project manager Marvin Smith said he was very pleased with the news, which – provided the snow vanishes – should mean trial work ahead of laying a cable can begin in mid-January.

The hope is that a cable hooking Lerwick up to a fibre-optic cable “point of presence” at Hoswick will be completed before the spring is out, with work between the town and Scalloway then proceeding later in the year.

Local firm Tulloch Developments have won the contract to lay the cable, using a revolutionary “micro-trenching” technique. It involves a machine cutting a 20mm slot in the road surface to a depth of up to two metres, laying the cable in foam packing and filling the hole again with concrete and tar on top.

The SIC is investing around £1.1 million in its new Shetland Telecom venture after becoming fed up with intransigence from BT over upgrading the network so that businesses and residents in the isles can benefit from faster broadband internet connection speeds. The council also received a £367,500 grant towards the project from the European Regional Development Fund this autumn.

When the cable was laid from Faroe to the UK mainland in 2007, BT refused to join Shetland into the fibre optic link even though it crosses the isles from Maywick to Hoswick on its way to Orkney and Banff.

Councillors have repeatedly criticised the telecoms giant for failing to take action to increase the quality and reliability of bandwidth connections, despite having leased capacity on the cable.

ONE COMMENT

Add Your Comment
  • Mark Jackson - ISP Review (Editor)

    • December 22nd, 2010 13:42

    Excellent news for Shetland, it’s just a shame that BT couldn’t have done something more to help residents get better broadband. Still, a lot of us on the UK mainland will soon be very jelous of you folks 🙂 .

    Mark

    REPLY

Add Your Comment

Please note, it is the policy of The Shetland Times to publish comments and letters from named individuals only. Both forename and surname are required.

Comments are moderated. Contributors must observe normal standards of decency and tolerance for the opinions of others.

The views expressed are those of contributors and not of The Shetland Times.

The Shetland Times reserves the right to decline or remove any contribution without notice or stating reason.

Comments are limited to 200 words but please email longer articles or letters to editorial@shetlandtimes.co.uk for consideration and include a daytime telephone number and your address. If emailing information in confidence please put "Not for publication" in both the subject line and at the top of the main message.

200 words left

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

logo

Get Latest News in Your Inbox

Join the The Shetland Times mailing list to get one daily email update at midday on what's happening in Shetland.