Broadband news : Naidheachdan Broadband

This page contains information, and links to further information, regarding the status of broadband for Berneray.

Connected Communities

This is the wireless system that involves having a proprietary dish installed on the side of your house. The dish points to a Connected Communities node mast. The dish is connected to your computer by a cable; software for your PC or Mac is provided to make the service run.

The Connected Communities initiative is funded by the council and a number of other bodies. The Connected Communities website contains various information including pricing. Registering your interest (it is non-commital) on their website should enable you to get emailed updates.

August 19th 2007. Two broadband relay masts are to be erected on Berneray, one on Borve Hill and the other near the old school building. The go ahead to build the bases for the monopoles is awaiting, with some administration to be tidied up. The monopoles appear to be 3 to 4 metres high and will give 360 degree coverage. October 2007 appears to be the most likely start date for construction.

May 2nd 2007. 20 properties on Berneray now have Connected Communities broadband installed. This consists of 17 residential households, 2 holiday homes, and 1 visitor information centre. There is progress on the Borve relay mast, with a site visit and discussion with the township.

January 26th 2007. This is the first anniversary of broadband on Berneray! 18 properties on Berneray now have Connected Communities broadband installed. This consists of 15 residential households, 2 holiday homes, and 1 visitor information centre.

August 29th 2006. The Rodel mast has been "activated", and testing shows that some properties on Berneray can receive a signal (3 green bars picked up from Backhill).

June 15th 2006. Installations have now taken place in 11 households. There is a new contact for enquiries regarding broadband: John MacDonald. He can be contacted on john.macdonald@hient.co.uk

March 25th 2006. Installations have occured in 5 more households, bringing the total to nine on Berneray.

Regarding existing and future "problem" household installation, Connected Communities are taking a three-pronged approach:

1. For current installations suffering from tidal/moon/other conditions, they will "soon" attempt to resite the aerial on some other part of the property.
2. Rodel transmitter will be operation in "about two months". They have a verbal, but not yet written, agreement with the coastguards over this. This will enable some current problem installations, and other new installations in Backhill to (hopefully) get a signal.
3. Alison Cropper is sorting out the relay mast, which they have not worked out an ideal location for yet. Add on all the legal, ground ownership, power supply and other issues, and this does not look like it will be soon.

March 18th 2006. Installations will be attempted at several more houses in Berneray in the coming week.

Several of the existing installations still have a variable signal/service. We have some clarification from the Connected Communities manager as to what conditions can affect the signal/service. The sea e.g. conditions and the state of the tide, can affect the signal, as can the moons influence on tides. Peat can "absorb" the broadband signal, while the signal can "bounce" off rocks. This is a plus, as it means that some customers elsewhere have a signal due to bouncing off rocks even though they are not in a line of sight (better hope that no-one starts quarrying between them and the mast!). Atmospheric conditions are "unlikely" to affect the signal.

February 26th 2006. One or more relay masts will be set up on Berneray to increase the number of households that can receive coverage. To assist in the positioning of the relays it was requested that those who are interested and have not placed an order should be encouraged to at least register an interest on the CC website: http://www.connectedcommunities.co.uk/want/register/.

January 26th/27th 2006. First installations of households took place in Berneray. This was partially successful. The Loch Portain one is working; Rodel is not enabled; the Cleatreabhal one is too far away on current signal strength. Connected Communities are looking at the possibility of boosting the signal of Cleatreabhal, and/or installing a relay mast on Berneray. There are some pictures of the installations, plus a detailed review of how well the system works for one user.

Early January 2006. Several Berneray households have signed up for Connected Communities broadband, and have been given survey/installation date ranges in January.

December 7th 2005. According to Connected Communities, from this date residents of Berneray and other Western Isles communities will be able to order broadband through the Scotnet website. Upon ordering, you will receive details of the procedure for completing the order, and the date when Broadband will be installed at your residence.

Meeting of September 27th 2005. Donnie Morrison, and two representatives of the consultants to the Connected Communities project, had a brief meeting with 10 residents of Berneray. Some notes [available in RTF format] were sent by Donnie ahead of the meeting.

Additional notes, taken at the meeting on September 27th:

• The minimum sign-up period is 12 months.
• The first 1,000 residential properties will get free installation; the dish stays the property of connected communities. After this 1,000, installation will cost 35 pounds.
• There may be odd isolated property [in the Western Isles] where coverage is impossible.
• In theory, the service can be delivered up to 20km from a mast.
• The ISP is Scotnet; at this time, we are close to signing an agreement with them.
• Orkney and Shetlands are looking at the Connected Communities model.
• Older versions of Windows e.g. Windows 95, will not be supported by the enabling software.
• By far the biggest chunk of revenue for the service will come from the public sector.
• Schools and health centres will be connected first.
• Not a large number of households are needed to make the service viable.
• Areas of Lewis (Tolsta, Barvas etc.) will be connected first. Connection takes place on a community-by-community basis.
• People in the Western Isles will not be adversely affected, on price, against comparable packages available on the mainland.
• If the equipment breaks down, the installers will come and fix it in a maximum of 5 days. In most cases, it would be fixed the next day. We can do this as there are demanding Service Level Agreements with the health service.
• Free repairs will occur indefinitely. For example, even if your household connection breaks after 2 years, it will be fixed for free.

Meeting of September 26th 2005. Joe MacPhee, a development officer from the council, attended the Community Council meeting and gave an overview of the Connected Community scheme.