Phase two underway on Shetland fibre broadband project

The second phase of a project to connect Shetland to a Faroese fibre optic broadband cable has commenced, Shetland Telecom has announced.

Stage two of the work, which will see the fibre optic line laid between Lerwick on the south-east coast and Scalloway in the south-west, is due to be finished over the coming months.

This development comes after the recent completion of phase one, in which Lerwick was hooked up to the broadband connection from Maywick, the point that the cable comes onshore in Shetland.

A subsea cable will be run between Trondra Bridge and Maywick during the final stage of the project, which is likely to be carried out next spring due to the unfavourable weather conditions during the autumn and winter months.

Following detailed discussions with telecoms providers, the Shetland Islands Council decided last September that the most economically advantageous way to connect the local broadband infrastructure with the UK mainland was via the Faroese cable.