Our digital future....
Cynics might think that this refers to going back to using our fingers, as the promises from the politicians seem not to have materialised.
A brief recap....
The SNP promised a fund of £50m for the Scottish Futures Trust to give everyone broadband access. That promise has now gone, as far as I can tell.
The Government recently offered £70m which required match funding from the Scottish Government, but this was derided as "not enough" by the Scottish Government.
Now, according to the Scottish Government it will cost £300m to wire the Highlands and Islands alone, money which they have neither promised nor hinted that they might find.
Is it any wonder that potential residents here are so confused and disillusioned about the Broadband offering (outside Stornoway) that they have to resort to public appeals for the information which the main publicly funded provider won't release.
I'm sure that there are many who can help him out with much more technical knowledge than I will ever have.
Update: The Scottish Secretary has a go too.
A brief recap....
The SNP promised a fund of £50m for the Scottish Futures Trust to give everyone broadband access. That promise has now gone, as far as I can tell.
The Government recently offered £70m which required match funding from the Scottish Government, but this was derided as "not enough" by the Scottish Government.
Now, according to the Scottish Government it will cost £300m to wire the Highlands and Islands alone, money which they have neither promised nor hinted that they might find.
Is it any wonder that potential residents here are so confused and disillusioned about the Broadband offering (outside Stornoway) that they have to resort to public appeals for the information which the main publicly funded provider won't release.
I'm sure that there are many who can help him out with much more technical knowledge than I will ever have.
Update: The Scottish Secretary has a go too.
11 comments:
I really liked the article, and the very cool blog
The poor chap probably doesn't realise - yet - that Hebrides.Net will refuse to give them broadband, on the grounds of that forum alone. They threatened to disconnect us on the grounds of one mildly negative review.
Glad I kept all the emails, logs of calls etc. during my stay, as the whole debacle is forming not one but several chapters in the book about living, and trying to earn a living, there.
Several additional questions:
1. ConCom started making promised in 2003. Eight years ago. But there are still places in the islands on dial-up, or whose broadband is unreliable. Why so long?
2. How much money have ConCom spent so far (have seen figures of between 6 million and 13 million) to connect up just a few thousand properties? Could a good investigative journalist "follow the money" and answer this?
3. Is the ConCom network worth continuing? Net access has changed massively elsewhere over that eight years. For the - large - majority of people, several Mb is the acceptable absolute minimum. Things like video streaming, iPlayer, online gaming, high quality video conferencing need much higher speeds than any of the services in the rural parts of the islands can offer.
4. How many people and families have left the islands, or been put off moving to the islands, because of the unacceptable broadband situation? Guessing a few for the former (I know several, especially self-employed) and a lot for the latter.
*Generally* i.e. not in every case, seniors need or want broadband much less than people of lesser ages. Having a lack of broadband therefore tips the incoming demographic against younger people, families, and towards retirees. It would be good if Comhairle people who are "worried" about the demographics woke up, finally, and smelt the coffee over this.
The fishing is in decline, accelerated by draconian restrictions (see recent posts on this blog). Tourism only happens significantly for a few months of the year. Crofting isn't enough to sustain all but the largest landowners. Cuts in the public sector - and the worst is yet to come - aren't going to help. Broadband - of an acceptable speed, reliability and cost - should have been in place years ago. As the famous line from Local Hero says...
Eight years, millions of pounds of public money invested, and here's the net result.
ConCom / Hebrides.net is like the only pub on the island advertising they serve the finest single malt whisky. Go inside, hand over a tenner, and they serve you a half-measure of Tesco value whisky, with no change. When you complain, you're barred from the pub for life...
If you want broadband that approaches an acceptable reliability and speed, then move to Stornoway. Don't be at the mercy of ConCom and Hebrides.net. Remember the island of Berneray. Two people lobbied hard for broadband, and most of the residents signed a petition. Several years after the first promises, it was finally installed ... and failed when the tide was not at the right height (this is not a joke).
It's still unreliable, and several residents have been told they can't get it. One of the two residents who lobbied was permanently disconnected (Official: we can't provide a good service. Unofficial: you complain too much, publicly, and this is to teach you a lesson). The other is in rural America, enjoying 16Mb (i.e. fast) broadband.
Most of the costs of ConCom broadband were consultancy fees (into the millions, including flying the consultants to and from the mainland on a weekly basis) and labour costs. The kit itself was an insignificant cost.
Here's a thought. Install a ground-based fibre optic system. Use cheap labor in the form of imprisoned rioters, "chain gang" style, from England, to dig and bury the cables during the coming Hebridean winter. Voila, a cheap broadband network that doesn't fail in bad weather!
Can I have my MBE for services to Western Isles IT now, please?
Hi, the forum is running now at;
http://www.network-hebrides.co.uk/forum.html
Thanks, Richard
Looks like the Welsh have got it sorted
If you live or have a business in a Welsh not-spot, we can show you how to get 10.2 Mbps satellite broadband worth up to £1000 FREE
For the last 40 years the UK government have always been reluctant to invest properly in Scotland never mind the Hebrides.
Noticeable that the English-Gaelic dictionary for bureaucrats mentioned at:
http://www.hebrides-news.com/gaelic-dictionary-1911.html
... has a word for Internet, but not one for Broadband.
Le sigh.
For Broadband, I would suggest crios-leathann :-)
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