Highlands businesses take HIE to task over broadband

Caithness Chamber of Commerce has today (November 15th 2013) met with the organisation tasked with rolling out superfast broadband in the Scottish Highlands.

Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) announced the first eight spots in the region that would receive fibre optic broadband access in October. Areas covered included Fortrose, Hopeman, Inverness, Culloden, Lhanbryde and Lossiemouth. But despite the poor standard of its current service, Caithness was not part of the plans.

According to the John O'Groat Journal, business owners have become increasingly frustrated with the situation and argued that the current network is causing their competitiveness to suffer as firms from better connected towns and cities overtake them. The meeting was designed to hold HIE accountable as to why Caithness was not a priority.

Peter Body is the Managing Director of Norscot, which operates in the Bower area of the region. He is part of the digital connectivity group that is pushing for an improved network.

He said: "We were assured at the beginning that Caithness was a priority area and Wick, Thurso and John O'Groats would be at the forefront of the upgrade, but that has been reneged upon."