At close of play on Friday the 24th of October, 3 weeks to the day since Storm Amy, this is the latest information about the subsea cable repair and ongoing work to keep Tiree connected.
Subsea Cable
Repair work on the damaged subsea cable is due to begin from the 3rd of November, weather permitting. The first stage will be on land, preparing a new landing point where the repaired cable can come ashore.
A specialist repair vessel has now been secured and is expected to arrive between the 6th and 7th of November. Once the work starts, the whole repair – including the replacement and testing – should take around 10 days, as long as the weather plays ball.
Scottish Government Support
Jenni Minto MSP was instrumental in getting us involved in a conversation with BT early in the week, and Brendan O’Hara MP has been pushing from the Westminster end.
Following the concerns you raised on Monday night about the lack of response from the Scottish Government, and our subsequent statement, communication has vastly improved, and we are grateful to all those who helped make it happen.
We can tell you that:
The Scottish Government has been working intensively with BT Group and Openreach to make sure repair work and temporary fixes are being pushed through as quickly as possible.
Marine consents for the work have been fast-tracked and are now approved.
The First Minister has written to the Chief Executive of Openreach, pressing for the repair to be completed quickly, and has been assured the work is being treated as a priority.
The Deputy First Minister is now holding daily calls with Urras Thiriodh to understand what’s happening on the ground and to keep things moving.
Temporary Connectivity
Alongside the main repair, BT is continuing to improve the temporary connections that are helping to keep key services online.
Testing is under way for a new “ethernet over radio” connection for critical sites such as NHS facilities. This should increase available bandwidth and allow satellite capacity to be used elsewhere on the island.
Using the Network
We know it’s been a long few weeks and we really appreciate everyone’s patience and cooperation.
Please keep using Tiree Broadband as lightly as you can, and where possible switch to 4G for non-essential use. Every bit of bandwidth saved helps keep essential services running more smoothly.
We’ll keep sharing updates as soon as there’s more news.
