An Atkins-led project brings broadband to Scotland’s most sparsely populated areas and provides a model for other remote locations
Most of us take basic broadband connectivity for granted, especially if we live in a city supported by the infrastructure we need to get online.
But, given the many benefits offered by the internet, how do people access these services if they live in particularly out of the way places?
That is a problem faced by the population of the Scottish Highlands and Islands – one of the most remote locations in Europe.
Atkins’ principal engineer Neil Watt – a project director within Atkins – believes his team have created a potential blueprint that can be applied to remote communities around the world.
“We have been working with the region’s community and economic development agency, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, for more than a decade, supporting work to bring better broadband access to remote communities.
“When we first looked at the project, the task seemed pretty daunting. Asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) services were not available and the sparsely populated area presented challenges to traditional radio networks as the region is also mountainous, with hills and glens blocking traditional line-of-sight wireless connections.”
In the early stages, it was a newly established frequency spectrum – 5.8GHz – that provided efficient and relatively inexpensive broadband despite the mountainous terrain. In the Western Isles, some 97 per cent of the population were soon able to access broadband at speeds of up to 100Mb/s, including 40 schools, five council offices and 21 NHS sites
The pilot project also enabled telemedicine, e-government, net-based telephony and a community-led television channel.
Next Neil and his team were faced with the challenge of supporting a government-backed scheme’s plans to deliver superfast broadband to 84 per cent of premises in the region by the end of 2016.
“To meet the coverage target, our project specification included approximately 249 miles (400km) of new subsea fibre optic cables to link the Inner and Outer Hebrides and Orkney Islands,” says Watt. Twenty subsea routes were used, the biggest ever telecoms subsea cable-laying operation undertaken in the UK.
“In addition we required more than 497 miles (800km) of new cable into homes and other sites.”
Atkins’ advances in Scotland demonstrate how technology can help to bring people together and connect communities in some of the most challenging environments.
“I believe that other communities can learn from these examples,” says Watt. “Outside Europe many countries face similar or even greater challenges. These include Australia, China, New Zealand and Vietnam, which all have challenging geographies and often large areas with low population density.
“Through a combination of a large-scale rural rollout specification, supported by bespoke connectivity solutions for the hardest-to-reach communities, there is now a blueprint for connecting almost any location, however remote.”
Watt and his team won this year’s Royal Academy of Engineering Major Project Award, given in recognition of a major engineering project with a substantial impact on society. They are now busy developing solutions for the 16pc of Scottish islanders that won’t be reached by the current network.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Chris Moss
Quelle/Source: The Telegraph, 28.09.2015
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