Over 200 miles of digital cable to connect the Western Isles 31/7/14
The cablelayer MV Rene Descartes (in top right of the photo) will spend the next week laying and ploughing the broadband cable into the seabed across the Minch before landing it at Ullapool.
There, it will be hooked up to a mainland fibre backbone.
The 49 mile sub-
However, it is still just one part of the huge engineering jigsaw that has to be
be completed before going live with fibre in the isles.
In the Outer Hebrides, more
than 62 miles of land based backbone is to be built between Stornoway in the north
and Carnan in the south.
In subsea, as well as the Ullapool to Stornoway cable, a second link will stretch more than 35 miles between Carnan on South Uist, and Dunvegan on Skye.
In addition there will be island to island subsea cables from Lochmaddy to Leverburgh,
Lochboisdale to Eriskay, and Eriskay to North Bay in Barra.
All of this work prepares
the way for the next stage which includes provision of fibre cabinets that connect
homes and businesses to fibre broadband. This will be in a phased approach during
2015 completing by the end of 2016.
Alasdair Macleod, chair of Sustainable Development
at Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, said: "The rollout of high speed fibre broadband to
the Hebrides has been eagerly awaited and is hugely welcome news.
“High speed digital
connectivity will bring many benefits to island residents and businesses and enhance
the economic viability and sustainability of our area. Businesses in the area are
at a severe disadvantage if they do not have access to modern technology.
“High speed digital connectivity is essential in the modern era to ensure that our
communities are well placed to take advantage of opportunities created by this new,
exciting development."
Digital Economy Minister Ed Vaizey, said: "This fantastic news
marks a new chapter in the remarkable transformation of broadband in Scotland. We
understand how important access to superfast broadband is, which is why the UK Government
is investing over £100 million in broadband in Scotland.
"The widespread access to
superfast broadband that our roll-