3 Mobile UK Brings FREE Mobile Broadband to Scottish Highland Communities

Mobile operator Three UK has announced that it is giving away 20 free Mobile Broadband modems (dongles) to community hubs in the isolated Highlands and Islands villages of Melvich and Durness in Scotland. The port town of Invergordon further south will also get similar treatment.

The move is being conducted through the operators Rural Broadband Working Group, which was established last year as an organisation that could work with local politicians and the Countryside Alliance to identify rural broadband ‘Not-Spots’ (i.e. rural areas that are not served by fixed line broadband ISPs but that can get a 3G mobile service).

Related areas are then promised free mobile data and devices for a year, which would be predominantly focused upon helping to connect local community halls, some homes, hotels and cafes etc.

Dave Dyson, CEO of Three, said:

“With the Highlands having some of the most remote areas in Europe, these communities often don’t have access to the benefits of high-speed broadband. We have built a network specifically for the internet and are passionate about using this to connect people wherever they are, whether this is in the Highlands or towns and cities around the UK.”

Moves like this are to be welcomed but 20 modems isn’t really enough to connect everybody in all of the related communities and as a result such efforts often end up looking more like a stop-gap solution than a real longer-term strategy.

On the other hand the imminent 4G mobile auction (800MHz and 2.6GHz) aims to ensure expanded coverage commitments to reach at least 98% of the UK, which could make 4G a viable solution for many isolated villages.