Locheilnet Boosts Capacity to Connect 270 Fort William Internet Users

Not-for-profit community (CIC) ISP Locheilnet, which was set-up in 2012 with support from locals and £91,500 from Community Broadband Scotland (CBS), has expanded its 35Mbps capable wireless broadband network in Fort William by doubling its network capacity via a new cable.

The original network was only intended to connect 50 homes in the rural Highlands of Scotland area, but since then coverage has expanded and the new capacity means that they’ve just been able to connect their 270th customer (a community radio station called ‘Nevis Radio’).

The local terrain is extremely mountainous and that required Locheilnet to install wireless relays that would help their radio broadband signals to navigate around Ben Nevis and similar obstructions to their service.

Chris Pellow, Locheilnet Founder, said:

“There has been strong demand for our service which is fantastic but we had found the lack of capacity challenging. With the second leased line in place, we are now able to satisfy the customer’s requirements and continue to grow.

Our goal is to connect people who wouldn’t normally have access to high speed broadband and to provide a reliable backup for businesses.”

Prices for the service typically start at £24 per month for a 20Mbps (10Mbps upload) connection with a 20GB usage allowance and the top package offers 35Mbps (10Mbps upload) with an “unlimited” (100GB Fair Usage Policy) data allowance for £36. The installation cost is £144 VAT inc. for both residential and business customers.