Community Broadband Project on the Isle of Bute Secures Funding

Many homes and businesses on the remote Isle of Bute in Scotland are already benefitting from faster broadband connectivity thanks to the joint Digital Scotland and BT project, but not all areas will benefit. The good news is that a local community project has just secured £5,000 to fill some of the gaps.

The funding comes from the Community Broadband Scotland (CBS) initiative and will be handed to the Bute Rural Community Broadband Group (BRCBG), which has proposed to deploy a fixed wireless broadband service around various areas to the islands south east (Ascog, Kerrycroy and Mount Stuart), the west coast and the north of Bute.

BRCBG Status Update

Bute Rural Community Broadband Group was formed in September 2013 with the objective of delivering high speed broadband to the whole of Rural Bute. The Group developed a wireless based proposal, which was initially supported by Community Broadband Scotland(CBS), to cover the south, west and north of the island. However in early 2014 CBS withdrew support because it cannot double fund the delivery of faster broadband where BT has indicated that they will provide a service.

Subsequent discussions with HIE indicated that around 200 properties on Bute would not benefit from the BT upgrade. A similar situation is likely to apply to Tighnabruaich, Colintraive and Glendaruel, where Broadband Groups were progressing their own solutions. It was agreed in autumn 2014, that these Groups should combine their efforts into one proposal, The Kyles of Bute Community Broadband Project, to deliver a high speed broadband service to all who would not be serviced by BT Next Generation Broadband (NGB).

The Kyles of Bute Community Broadband Group is pleased to announce that CBS has now agreed a grant of £5000 to enable it to issue an ‘invitation to appropriate companies to tender’ for the supply and operation of a system to bring superfast speeds to those not reached by the BT roll-out.

On Bute BT/HIE indicate that their planning of NGB implementation is at an advanced stage and some delivery has started in Rothesay. Full implementation should be completed by June 2016 or earlier. Only when implementation is complete will it be possible to accurately define the properties that will not be serviced. NGB will be delivered through fibre to a cabinet and then by existing wires to each property. To receive NGB properties need to be within 1 to 2 km of a cabinet, as broadband speed declines rapidly with distance and quality of wire. Current best estimates suggest that the main population areas of Rothesay, Ardbeg, Port Bannatyne, Kingarth and Kilchattan Bay will be well serviced.

The Kyles of Bute Community Broadband network will concentrate its service on areas to the south east (Ascog/Kerrycroy/Mount Stuart), the west coast and the north of Bute, as these areas appear unlikely to receive NGB from BT.

It’s hoped that the new network could go live within the next 12 months, but first they’ll need to find a supplier and more funding will probably be needed to help with the later infrastructure developments. The cost will also depend upon how easily they can access the backhaul capacity and distribute it, particularly since Bute isn’t flat and wireless signals don’t play well with big hills.