Contracts for communication cables awarded

Orkney is a receive a boost to its broadband network after BT has announced that it has awarded three firms a £26.9 million contract for a subsea cabling project to the Highlands and Islands.

Specialist ships will lay 20 fibreoptic cables from May to October next year, providing a fibre broadband backbone which will eventually link communities from Kintyre to Orkney

The massive engineering effort is part of the £146 million investment project launched with Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) in March to bring high-speed fibre broadband to communities across the north of Scotland.

The £146 million fibre broadband scheme, led by HIE and delivered by BT, means that around 84 per cent of Highlands and Islands homes and businesses will have access to fibre broadband by the end of 2016.