Distance-shrinking technology is far more important to small, peripheral communities than it is to urban settlements. Ensuring every community had access to modern standards of telecommunications was the issue for the HIDB’s largest single investment - to bring ISDN services to the region. Two decades later HIE’s largest ever investment has brought fibre broadband to the region on a scale that would not otherwise have happened.
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The HIDB lobbies the BBC for improved reception in rural areas, and the possibility of a pilot scheme for relayed or piped television on a communal basis is explored.
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Electricity is now supplied to 93% of potential consumers in the Highlands and Islands by the North of Scotland Hydro Electric Board.
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BRINGING POWER TO RURAL COMMUNITIES
The HIDB engages in discussions with the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board (NSHEB) about their policy and future programme for providing electricity to small rural communities. Given geographical separation from distribution lines and the high costs involved, it is clear that some small communities will not be connected to the Hydro Board grid, and the HIDB investigate potential solutions. Schemes for Colonsay and North Ronaldsay, the two largest of the communities affected, are considered by the Board, in technical liaison with NSHEB and the Army.
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Self-help TV transmitters
Acharacle, in Ardnamurchan, secures the first licence for a community-owned television relay, thanks to the determined efforts of its local butcher in challenging Home Office Policy.
This leads to a programme of licensing for 'self-help' TV relay transmitters, originally being used illegally by small communities to access public service broadcasting. These self-help schemes are generally funded by the local community, and tend to cover relatively small areas.
The HIDB provides support to a number of groups installing relays, the costs of which can range from £1,000 to £8,000 depending on distance and height between premises and the masts.
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Following a study on Telecommunications in the Highlands and Islands, commissioned by the HIDB and the Office of Telecommunications, the Board hosts a joint conference with Oftel on the implications for the Highlands and Islands. The report outlines the potential social and economic benefits of advanced telecommunications technology and new opportunities offered, especially for businesses in remote rural areas.
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NEW COMMUNICATIONS
Communication is always an issue for remote areas, and the HIDB makes its largest single investment to date - the ground-breaking Highlands and Islands Telecommunications Initiative. They invest £4.9m towards a £16.2m programme by BT to roll-out ISDN, including the upgrading of 43 telephone exchanges across the area. This pioneering project would go on to pave the way for broadband and transform communications for some of the UK’s most remote areas.
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HIE recruits the first IT Adviser in the Western Isles to support local businesses in the use of information and communications technologies. This is the beginning of the boom in information technology and similar posts are created across the Highlands and Islands in the next few years.
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The Highlands and Islands Digital Telecommunications upgrade sees parts of the BT backhaul network and exchanges being updated. The total project cost is £4.87m, with £1.41m of funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
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Trunk Telecommunications Upgrade to Argyll and the Islands, extending the Scottish Telecom network. The total project cost was £7m, with £2.77m of funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
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EXPANDING MOBILE NETWORKS
HIE continues to focus on upgrading the telecommunications infrastructure of the region. Investment in 200 new masts comes as part of the rollout of a £46m project with Cellnet and Vodafone to upgrade the mobile telecommunications network throughout the area. It is the first time Cellnet and Vodafone have collaborated on this scale, and the model is still used today.
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To support the UK rollout of advanced ADSL broadband services, BT Manpower opens a technical support centre in Alness, which is expected to lead to the creation of 200 jobs in the area.
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BT opens the first Highland ADSL exchange in Inverness.
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ADSL Exchange Activate trials are launched in Drumnadrochit and Muir of Ord. The trials test ADSL-enabling exchanges for customers in more rural areas where full platform ADSL broadband is not considered commercially viable. Following the successful trials, 146 telephone exchanges across Scotland are enabled with Exchange Activate broadband in 2005.
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BROADBAND COMES TO CROMARTY
Cromarty was the location for Scotland's first community wireless broadband demonstration project. This was the first of six broadband demonstrations set up by HIE to bring broadband to communities unable to access the service through ADSL-enabled telephone exchanges.
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Farice fibre optic subsea cable completed between Iceland, the Faroes and Caithness.
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Successful completion of the "Broadband for Scotland Rural and Remote Areas Supply-Side Intervention" to deliver affordable basic broadband (512Kbps) access to every Scottish community.
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COMMUNITY CONNECTION AND INNOVATION
HIE and partners become internet providers with the completion of the roll out of Connected Communities pilot. The project brings broadband services to rural communities throughout the Western Isles and is one of the first and largest in the UK to incorporate the recently licensed 5.8GHz radio frequency bands.
The pilot has been funded through the Department of Trade and Industry sponsored Broadband Fund, HIE, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar and match funding from the Highlands and Islands Special Transitional Programme.
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SHEFA2 subsea fibre optic cable completed between the Faroes and Banff with connections through Shetland and Orkney.
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THE NEXT GENERATION OF BROADBAND
HIE successfully bids to be one of the initial four rural areas in the UK to receive a funding package from Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) to spearhead the rollout of Next Generation Broadband.
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Shetland Islands Council completes its link with the SHEFA2 cable to improve fibre capacity within the islands.
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Always at the forefront of innovation, HIE pioneers Tourism Webinars, delivering market intelligence and business support to thousands of remote and rural businesses.
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CONNECTING THE PERIPHERIES
HIE is chosen by the Scottish Government to manage Community Broadband Scotland (CBS), a key element of the Scottish Government’s Digital Strategy. CBS underpins the next generation broadband programme, supporting those communities that will not be reached to develop their own community-led solutions to deliver improved connectivity.
As part of the CBS pilot, three communities in the Highlands and Islands - Applecross, Colonsay and Tomintoul & Glenlivet – are chosen, along with three others elsewhere in Scotland, to benefit from a £5m fund that will help bring next generation broadband to hard-to-reach rural areas. Members of local communities will work with assigned broadband experts to develop ideas for improving internet access for local businesses and residents.
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An ambitious strategy 'Scotland's Digital Future - Delivery of Public Services' is launched by Finance Secretary John Swinney, with a view to enhancing public service delivery through the use of digital channels.
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The Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure Alex Neil announces £120m investment towards the rollout of next generation broadband across the Highlands and Islands.
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HIE's first Director of Digital Highlands and Islands, Stuart Robertson is appointed.
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£146m For Superfast Broadband
Following the project announcement in 2011, HIE signs a contract with BT to deliver Next Generation Access broadband across the Highlands and Islands.
The £146m investment is the biggest project the agency has ever undertaken, and one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects in Scotland’s history. It will deliver high speed fibre broadband across the region, transforming the area’s digital capabilities.
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HIE, in partnership with Business Gateway and Citizens Online, launches 'Our Digital Zone', a roadshow offering free advice across the region to help users of all levels make the most out of digital technology.
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IT Engagement Programme is launched following an announcement by the Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Alex Neil, in 2012. Led by HIE in partnership with business gateway, the initiative will support more than 350 businesses across the Highlands and Islands to take up broadband and use digital technologies.
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£7m investment to help businesses participate in the Digital Economy announced by DFM Nicola Sturgeon.
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BT creates 150 new posts as part of a major drive to recruit engineers to help roll out Next Generation Broadband across Scotland.
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BT announces £26.9m fibre contract
BT awards three companies a £26.9m contract to lay 20 fibre optic subsea cables across the Highlands and Islands as part of HIE project to bring high-speed broadband to the region.
The cable-laying operation is the biggest subsea engineering project BT has undertaken in British territorial waters, and is the first ever with so many seabed crossings. The longest cable, at nearly 50 miles, is to run under the Minch from Ullapool to Stornoway, with the second-longest running more than 35 miles between Carnan on South Uist and Dunvegan on Skye.
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Funding of £6.6m is announced by the Scottish Government to support digital skills and support actions set out in the information and communications technology (ICT) and digital technologies Skills Investment Plan.
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The first cabinets go live in Inverness as part of the roll out of Superfast Broadband.
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The first fibre optic cable lands on the Outer Hebrides having been laid across the Minch.
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Fibre broadband arrives in Shetland
Superfast broadband has been introduced to Shetland with the announcement that 4,000 properties will have access to the system. It is the first Island grouping in Scotland to see the roll out of superfast broadband, and coverage is expect to expand to 75 per cent of properties in 2016.
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In November, Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announces that 30 thousand premises in Highlands and Islands can now order fibre broadband.
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A PIONEERING PROJECT UNDER THE SEA
Digital Scotland celebrates completion of a once-in-a-generation subsea telecoms project which sees almost 250 miles of fibre optic cabling installed across 20 seabed crossings – the most complex subsea engineering challenge ever undertaken by BT in UK waters. The £26.9m subsea project is a key milestone in the £146m Digital Highlands and Island rollout of Next Generation Broadband. A celebration takes place in Millport, Isle of Cumbrae to mark the event.
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4G arrives in Inverness.
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Fibre broadband goes live in Stornoway
Next Generation fibre optic Broadband goes live in Stornoway - the first time fibre has ever been available in the Western Isles.
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Superfast Broadband Scotland project features on BBC Scotland programme Scotland at Work, How Scotland Works.
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HIE partner Atkins awarded Royal Academy of Engineering Major Project Award for its part in the delivery of high speed broadband infrastructure in the Highlands and Islands.
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Broadband arrives in Drumnadrochit
Nessie spotters capturing images of the elusive beastie can now upload their images in superfast time, as high speed broadband arrives in Drumnadrochit. The new fibre access is being delivered as part of the Digital Scotland project being led by HIE in the region.
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A BOOST FOR RURAL BROADBAND
A new funding scheme to support rural broadband is announced by the First Minister as part of the Scottish Rural Development Programme (SRDP) 2014-2020. The broadband grant scheme is a £9m fund to support community-led broadband projects in the hardest to reach broadband areas and will be administered by Community Broadband Scotland.
Connectivity
At 2015
145,000
homes and businesses have access to the fibre based broadband network
£146m
project investment has helped 100,000 towns & villages get access to fibre based broadband
84%
of homes and businesses will have access to high speed fibre broadband by the end of 2016
Around
100
communities are being supported by Community Broadband Scotland to get access to faster broadband