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Articles for Category Tag - shetland islands

Shetland Islands and Scotland Google Maps Screenshot

Feasibility Study on New Subsea Fibre Cable for Shetland Islands Begins

2nd September, 2026 (3 Comments)

The Scottish Government yesterday set out their work plan for the next five years, which among other things initiated a feasibility study to “identify and evaluate potential options” for deploying a new subsea fibre optic cable between mainland Scotland and the Shetland Islands. The goal being to improve broadband and mobile redundancy, as well as performance.

Gigabit Broadband Rollout Contract for Orkney and Shetland to be Awarded Soon

1st September, 2026 (1 Comment)

After a long delay it appears as if the Scottish Government may finally get around to awarding a new gigabit broadband roll-out contract for Orkney & Shetland by the end of 2026. The procurement, which forms part of the UK’s £5bn Project Gigabit scheme, aspires to expand full fibre (FTTP) networks to 13,550 premises in hard-to-reach parts of the remote Northern Isles.

Farice Plan New Subsea Fibre Cable to Link Iceland with Scotland and the UK

24th April, 2026 (3 Comments)

Icelandic network operator Farice has proposed to deliver a significant data capacity boost between the UK and Iceland by unveiling plans to build a new subsea fibre link – named AUÐUR, which will connect to Scotland via a service delivery point in either Glasgow or Edinburgh.

BT Expect to Fix Subsea Fibre Optic Cable Break on Orkney by Tomorrow UPDATE

17th April, 2026 (6 Comments)

The UK telecoms operator, BT, has confirmed that the subsea cable repair ship (Pierre de Fermat) they contracted to resolve the recent fibre optic break between Evie on the Orkney Mainland and nearby Westray, which disrupted local broadband and 4G mobile connectivity, is set to be fully resolved on Saturday (18th April).

SNP 2026 Manifesto Dangles Possible Subsea Fibre Cable to Shetland Islands

16th April, 2026 (4 Comments)

The Scottish National Party (Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba) has today published details of their 2026 Manifesto for the 7th May election, which among other things calls on the UK Government to “introduce affordable broadband social tariffs” and pledges to commission a feasibility study on the idea of running another subsea fibre link to the Shetland Islands.

BT Confirm Delay to Subsea Fibre Optic Cable Repair Ship for Orkney

31st March, 2026 (2 Comments)

The UK telecoms giant, BT, has confirmed that a subsea cable repair ship, which is needed to resolve the recent break between Evie on the Orkney Mainland and nearby Westray, has been delayed due to bad weather and will not now arrive to carry out the work until next week. But local 4G mobile connectivity has been improved.

Subsea Cable Break Knocks Out Broadband and Mobile for Part of Orkney UPDATE

20th March, 2026 (20 Comments)

A BT subsea fibre optic cable that runs between Evie on the Orkney Mainland and nearby Westray, which forms part of an archipelago off the northeastern coast of Scotland, has suffered a “major” break that’s disrupting both broadband and some mobile (Vodafone / Three UK and O2) connectivity for over 500 customers in the North Isles (inc. Eday, Stronsay and Sanday).

Scotland Restart Gigabit Broadband Rollout Tender for Fife, Perth and Kinross

10th February, 2026 (0 Comments)

The Scottish Government (SG) has officially relaunched their proposed gigabit broadband roll-out procurement for Fife, Perth and Kinross. The proposed contract is valued at £28,557,891 excluding VAT and aims to help expand such a network to cover an estimated total number of 17,830 premises in hard-to-reach areas (i.e. those not covered by any other gigabit networks).

Vodafone UK Take Flak on Shetland for Missed or Incorrect Broadband Compensation

23rd December, 2025 (1 Comment)

Internet and mobile provider Vodafone have been criticised for allegedly failing to correctly compensate some of their customers on Shetland, which is a remote UK subarctic archipelago that resides north of the Scottish mainland. The issue follows from a major subsea fibre break (here) that recently caused a protracted disruption to services during October 2025.

Bad Weather Delays Fix for Broken Shetland Subsea Fibre Cable Until Tuesday UPDATE

27th October, 2025 (0 Comments)

Bad weather means customers of broadband and mobile providers Vodafone, Sky Broadband and TalkTalk on Shetland, which is a remote UK subarctic archipelago that resides north of the Scottish mainland, will have to wait until Tuesday until repair ship Cable Vigilance can complete its fix of the recently broken SHEFA-2 (Faroese Telecom) subsea cable.

Shetland Expecting Fix for Broken Subsea Fibre Cable to Occur Next Weekend

18th October, 2025 (2 Comments)

Homes and businesses on Shetland, which is a remote UK subarctic archipelago that resides north of the Scottish mainland, could see the full restoration of local broadband services by around next weekend. Connectivity was disrupted earlier this month after Storm Amy caused damage to the main SHEFA-2 (Faroese Telecom) subsea fibre optic cable (here).

Broadband Outages on Shetland After Second Subsea Fibre Break in 3 Months UPDATE

4th October, 2025 (5 Comments)

Customers of ISP Sky Broadband, Vodafone and possibly others on Shetland, which is a remote UK subarctic archipelago that resides north of the Scottish mainland, started suffering from a loss of internet connectivity yesterday after the main SHEFA-2 (Faroese Telecom) subsea fibre optic cable suffered damage on Friday; the second time in 3 months.

Repair Ship Cable Vigilance Aims to Fix Shetland Subsea Fibre Break by Thursday

5th August, 2025 (3 Comments)

Good news. Broadband and mobile services on the remote Shetland and Orkney Islands (Scotland), which have been disrupted since part of the main SHEFA-2 (Faroese Telecom) submarine (subsea) fibre optic cable was damaged over a week ago (here), could be restored as soon as this Wednesday or Thursday after the French repair ship ‘Cable Vigilance‘ arrived.

subsea_fibre_optic_laying_openreach_bt_scotland

Broadband Disrupted for Shetland and Orkney by Subsea Fibre Break UPDATE

27th July, 2025 (11 Comments)

Thousands of homes and businesses across Shetland, which is a remote UK subarctic archipelago that resides north of the Scottish mainland, have suffered disruption to their broadband services this weekend after part of the main SHEFA-2 (Faroese Telecom) submarine (subsea) fibre optic cable was damaged. Premises on the Orkney Islands were also hit.

Scotland May Reissue Gigabit Broadband Tender for Fife, Perth and Kinross

17th June, 2025 (0 Comments)

The Scottish Government (SG) looks as if they could be preparing to “relaunch” their proposed gigabit broadband roll-out procurement for Fife, Perth and Kinross during September 2025. This might take a second stab at trying to find a supplier that can help upgrade the remaining set of hardest-to-reach premises.

New Subsea Cable Link Being Explored for the Shetland Islands

12th June, 2025 (3 Comments)

Network operator VodafoneThree UK has today announced that they’ve begun a “feasibility study” to explore the possibility and cost of deploying a new subsea fibre optic cable system to help transform broadband and mobile connectivity in the Shetland Islands – a remote subarctic archipelago that resides some way north of Scotland.

Scotland Stops £43m Gigabit Broadband Tender for Fife, Perth and Kinross

7th June, 2025 (5 Comments)

ISPreview has uncovered that the Scottish Government (SG) have stopped their tender for a supplier to deliver on the proposed £43m (state aid) Project Gigabit broadband roll-out scheme in Fife, Perth and Kinross (Lot 4 – Scotland). This had been expected to help expand full fibre (FTTP) connectivity to an estimated 28,441 premises in hard-to-reach rural areas.