Government to undertake review into communications blackout

Shetland MSP Beatrice Wishart.

The first minister has agreed to a review of the telecommunications outage affecting Shetland.

Shetland MSP Beatrice Wishart requested the review in Holyrood on Thursday, saying the blackout had highlighted the “fundamental vulnerability of island communications infrastructure”.

She said people needed “guaranteed connectivity and reliability” and called for an investigate what happened to ensure communication connection were resilient.

In response, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon acknowledged what happened was of “profound concern”.

She said Ms Wishart had raised legitimate and important points about resilience.

“I will give a commitment that we will review all of that in light of this incident and consider what other steps may be required,” Ms Sturgeon said.

After the exchange Ms Wishart said she was pleased the first minister had acknowledged the concerns.

“There was a possibility that this incident could have lasted for longer than it did and that would have tested modern life in Shetland,” she added.

“I am keen to know the outcome of the work to find out exactly how the two connections serving Shetland became damaged.

“I also look forward to the results of the review to ensure greater resilience.”

Ms Wishart also used her speech in Holyrood to thank the emergency services and everyone involved in fixing the problem.

Although a temporary solution to the outage was arranged last Thursday, further problems have been reported this week as repairs were carried out to the damaged cable.