The Connected Communities (ConCom) project, a publicly funded next generation broadband wireless ( Wi-Fi ) network for local authorities, businesses and citizens across the populated islands of the Outer Hebrides (Western Isles) of Scotland, has been placed 'under review' following concerns about its performance.

The BBC News Online item reports that the Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) review began as a result of several factors, though opponents have raised concerns about its reliability in the European Parliament and criticised its performance (speeds):


The BBC article states that the £7m project aims to deliver broadband speeds that are "10-times faster than a 56k modem", which is roughly equivalent to a 512Kbps (0.5Mbps) land-line broadband ADSL service. In reality the network is designed to deliver speeds of up to 2Mbps and the 500 package is one of its slowest.

It's understood that some or perhaps most of the problems experienced stem from the difficulty of distributing a wireless broadband signal in areas of hilly terrain, which can obstruct the line-of-sight and hamper quality.