Scottish Wireless Build 1Gbps FTTP Broadband to Loch Lomond

Businesses, visitors and residents in part of Scotland’s remote rural Loch Lomond National Park area may in the future be able to benefit from a new 1Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network, which is being supported by a Glasgow-based UK ISP and telecoms consultancy firm called Scottish Wireless.

The new network appears to have resulted from a deal to initially bring a new fibre optic connection to Strathclyde University‘s nearby Ross Priory campus in Gartocharn, Loch Lomond. The first phase of this has already been completed (taking 40 days) and involved the digging of a new 2.3km long fibre link, but that was only the start.

The second phase will see the new Strathclyde University service being extended to “everyone living in, and visiting the Loch Lomond National Park area,” although we get the impression below that this may require lots of community projects to engage (i.e. more of a long-term aspiration than a solid roll-out plan).

In keeping with that we couldn’t find any mention of residential broadband packages on the Scottish Wireless website or a clear roll-out plan and time-scale for the area. Nevertheless if the ambition can be achieved then it could potentially unlock a multitude of economic and social benefits for the area.

Peter Nevans, MD of Scottish Wireless, said:

“There’s really no reason why rural areas can’t have the same fibre internet provision as their town and city counterparts, not when you consider the technology and human skill sets available today.

Before we put in the fibre cable at Gartocharn, internet access there was incredibly poor. Now it’s about to get as good as you’ll get anywhere.

This project will provide rural communities with a toolkit to allow them to create networks of connectivity for cooperatives of consumers, local enterprise, councils and other stakeholders.

Over the years, rural areas have always been the last to be provided with mobile or broadband connectivity. They are remote, which makes it more difficult and more expensive, so the business case doesn’t always stack up for the network providers. Part of what we want to do is to turn that around, so that we’re making a special effort to roll-out connectivity solutions to rural areas in a first phase of adoption.”

We should point out that Scottish Wireless aren’t the only fibre builder to play in this area. The better known Balquhidder Community Broadband (CIC) project, which is support by local ISP Bogons and the Stirling Council, have already deployed some gigabit FTTP around the Loch Doine and Loch Voil areas further to the north (here).