BT Says Sorry for Lengthy Isle of Bute Broadband Provision Delays

Several Rothesay locals, which is a small but principal town of around 5,000 people on the Isle of Bute (West Scotland), have complained after BT advised that it would not be possible to connect their new premises to broadband until November 2014 due to capacity problems at the nearby telephone exchange (the normal wait is usually around 2 weeks).

According to The Buteman, some locals that have recently moved into a new property are being told that they’ll need to wait significantly longer than normal before their broadband service can be connected. BT has reportedly apologised for the situation and advised that BTWholesale planners will aim to provide additional capacity as quickly as possible.

The local telephone exchange currently supports only basic ‘up to’ 8Mbps (ADSLMAX) broadband services via BT’s older 20th Century Network (20CN) platform, although new fibre optic cables are currently being laid between the islands as part of the joint Digital Scotland project with BT.

The current indication is that around 84% of premises in Argyll and Bute will get coverage of superfast broadband (24Mbps+ via FTTC/P) as result of the Highlands and Islands and Rest of Scotland programmes, although the new fibre cables won’t be finished until October 2014 and after that it may take a few more months to build the new infrastructure across the island itself.

It’s possible that BT’s already limited resources in the area may thus be getting stretched by the new development.