Full fibre broadband for the North Isles
Schools and health centres in the North Isles could see high-speed internet connections installed in the next 12 months.
Shetland Islands Council has secured almost £2 million from the UK government to extend the council’s existing fibre network to Yell and Unst.
It will fund a network of broadband connections between public sector buildings across Yell and Unst. This will include schools and care centres and health centres. The £1.9 million investment should open up possibilities for video-linked working such as online learning and telemedicine.
The funding is being provided by the department of digital, culture, media and sport (DCMS) and is aligned with the Scottish government’s Reaching 100 per cent (R100) network in Unst and Yell, which expects to extend superfast fibre access to most premises in the area.
It has been welcomed by the council’s development committee chairman Alastair Cooper.
“This is good news for the North Isles, who have historically suffered from poor broadband and connectivity, while other parts of Shetland have seen upgrades,” he said.
“This is a positive improvement for public services in Yell and Unst, which lays a foundation of connectivity that can be extended to domestic and business premises in the future. We hope that the R100 initiative will help deliver domestic and business connectivity in the near future too.”
For full story, see Friday’s Shetland Times.
James J Paton
Astonishing ongoing costly stupidity by the Council re fast broadband for all the islands. An earth station with local microwave links could have provided this twenty years ago. A merger and cooperation between the Council, the numerous government agencies , the NHS and take over of local telecoms to have provided a local provider with virtuous public and private benefits, with profits staying locally. Due to all the previous piece-meal attempts and investment, it is of course entirely possible that this opportunity has long sailed. The lack of vision, creativity and cooperation by officers, elected members, the MSP and MP is truly staggering.