Broadband goes mobile in north rural 'not-spots'
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RURAL north Sutherland is to get a huge boost as the UK’s fastest growing mobile network aims to fill the internet void with nearly four million megabytes of mobile broadband.
As part of a national campaign, Three’s rural broadband working group has launched an initiative to provide more than three million webpages worth of free high-speed mobile broadband to the Highlands.
The project will give away 20 devices to community hubs, families and local businesses in Melvich and Durness, as well as connecting the port at Invergordon.
The working group is a UK-wide initiative which works closely with local politicians to identify "not-spots" and other areas with a need for broadband. Once these communities are highlighted, local businesses and families are given free access to mobile broadband for a year using Three’s mobile network.
The initiative in the Highlands is the first time the group has operated in Scotland and will connect communal areas in Durness, Melvich and Invergordon, including a community hall, a hotel, shop, two cafés, six families and local business-people.
Local MP John Thurso has welcomed the move. "These communities highlight the challenges faced by many in my constituency to get connected to the internet.
"Hopefully this scheme will educate people that in many instances mobile can be a cost-effective solution to get online."
The Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross MP added: "In this age of smartphones or tablets, more and more people are using mobile broadband as part of their daily lives."
All participants will be given a year’s free mobile broadband access to use with laptops and other internet-connected devices, as well as creating free-to-use public mobile "hot-spots" in community areas.This will be done by providing mobile broadband "dongles" and "MiFi" units which work with any laptop or wireless-enabled device.
As well as the social and educational benefits broadband brings, the initiative will also help local communities save thousands of pounds each year, with research by the Post Office suggesting families with broadband access can save up to £840 every 12 months by being connected.
The Three campaign has also been welcomed by deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
"The numerous educational, economic and social benefits brought about by high-speed internet are often slower to come to rural areas such as the Highlands, so initiatives like this are crucial," said the cabinet minister.
"This is all part of a longer-term commitment to ensuring Scotland enjoys a world-class digital infrastructure across the entire country by 2020." Kevin Arrowsmith, development officer with Durness Development Group, said it should impact on the economic and social wellbeing of Highland communities which are otherwise disadvantaged by their extremely remote location.
"We are incorporating the devices from Three UK into our initiatives aimed at helping individuals, small businesses and community groups," he said.
"We are a long way off achieving universal access in the Highlands but this will be invaluable in providing access where landline-based broadband is not available, unaffordable or inadequate."
Three’s rural broadband working group was launched last year with the aim of educating local politicians and communities on the benefits of mobile broadband.
