Shetland Islands cut off from mainland communications

BT Group are currently working to restore broadband and telephone connections on the Shetland Islands after it emerged that underwater communications cables that connect the island to the mainland have been severed, sparking the declaration of a ‘major incident’ by Police Scotland.

Engineers have been working to restore communications to the Shetland Islands and have confirmed that the fault lies with subsea cables. No time frame has been provided for completion of the repairs whilst residents and businesses are relying on satellite broadband and whatever 4G LTE remains to get online. It is at times like these that both home and business users are quickly reminded of their reliance on the internet for day-to-day life and just how many aspects of our modern lives rely on broadband internet.

Businesses tend to have plans in place for events such as local telecommunications outages with redundant broadband connections usually at the centre of any good business continuity plan. We have covered broadband redundancy in the past, but home users likely overlook such planning or dismiss the idea as too expensive without realising that broadband redundancy is readily available and affordable.

Those on the Shetland islands who have not abandoned their 4G LTE and satellite broadband connections will be able to testify to the resilience of their broadband connections during such localised telecoms outages.

To find out more about broadband redundancy, read our detailed article here or get in touch with our Sales Department to discuss how we would be able to secure your link to the rest of the world.