Orkney residents encouraged to register for broadband

With exchanges due to be upgraded to receive Broadband in seven more Orkney communities, a project is underway in the islands to identify solutions for those who remain out of reach.

Through the Broadband Reach Project, The Scottish Government is at the stage of finding a solution that will bring an affordable, basic Broadband service to those who have registered. If enough people come forward to identify a cluster, there is a high likelihood that their needs will be addressed. There are no further initiatives planned so it is important that people register now.

The Orkney exchanges that are due to be upgraded to full platform ADSL in the new year are, Eday, Longhope, Sanday, Stronsay, Deerness, Rousay and Evie. This will allow customers to use any ISP, access services up to 8Mb/s, and hopefully extend the reach of the service.  However some areas will remain out of reach and a project is underway to identify solutions for those areas.

To take full advantage of high speed internet access, businesses and home computer users in Orkney should register before 18 January, by either contacting HIE Orkney on 01856 874638 or register online.

Orkney clusters identified so far are in the north west of Rousay, north east of Sanday and south end of South Ronaldsay.  Other areas will only be identified if sufficient potential customers identify themselves.  Even in the identified areas it is important to register if you haven't already, both to make sure you are involved in the solution, and to raise the priority of the cluster.