UPDATE Wireless ISP Locheilnet Win £42K for Rural Broadband Boost in Scotland

The community (CIC) fixed wireless ISP Locheilnet, which offers broadband speeds of up to 35Mbps to areas from the West side of Loch Linnhe, both sides of Loch Eil and from Banavie to the wider Achnacarry/ Bunarkaig/Clunes area and Glenfinnan, has secured £42K to upgrade their core network.

Locheilnet was originally setup by local people in 2012 and is supported by £91,500 of public investment from the Community Broadband Scotland (CBS) initiative. Last year saw the ISP connect around 300 premises to their service and network capacity was also doubled to improve performance (here).

Prices for the residential 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 £204 VAT inc. for both residential and business customers.

The good news is that Locheilnet has now secured a new investment of £42,000 to upgrade their core network, which will allow it to cope with more subscribers and or boost service speeds. Sadly this is all the information that we have until a public press release is issued. We hope to update this article within the next day or so with extra details.

UPDATE 20th July 2017

The Highlands & Islands Enterprise (HIE) has confirmed that Locheilnet now has almost 400 customers and the extra £42,000 will be used to upgrade its core network, including new masts at Treslaig and Tulloch. “The investment will see increased capacity for the existing network and the opportunity to expand. This includes the delivery of superfast broadband to Kilmalieu, and also at Tulloch, near Roy Bridge,” said the HIE.

Jackie Wright, Chair of Locheilnet, said:

“This is really great news. We already provide a robust, fast broadband service to almost 400 rural householders and businesses. This funding will allow us to serve some of our even more remote areas. We’re hoping that during the summer we will have statutory permissions in place and start work on getting the infrastructure built.

I’d particularly like to thank people in the community who have helped to plan the project, and also to the landowners in each area who are very supportive.”