Cairngorms National Park lagging well behind for web and 3G services
A new survey of internet and mobile phone coverage in Badenoch and Strathspey and the wider Cairngorms National Park area has revealed the full extent of the "terrible" service and the problems it is causing for business and domestic users.
The area is lagging woefully behind the rest of the UK in terms of on-line provision and 3G network, the findings show.
The national park ranks bottom when compared to average internet download speeds against every other local authority area – and the UK itself is behind many parts of Europe and the developed world.
The result, according to some local business leaders, is that valuable income is being lost and firms are being prevented from creating new jobs in the area.
Problems include popular tourist spots such as Glenmore having no Internet coverage at all; regular crashes and outages which can last for days; and slow speeds preventing video streaming and the use of the BBC iPlayer, gaming, radio streaming, Skype and downloading large files.
Meanwhile, 20 per cent of respondents said they have no mobile phone coverage at all in their home or business, while 39 per cent said they have a signal of just one or two bars out of five in their premises.
There were a total of 634 responses from 201 businesses to the ‘Digital Connectivity Survey’ carried out by the Cairngorms National Park Authority between November last year and January, the results of which have just been published.
A total of 57 per cent of businesses responding claimed that current broadband provision was restricting their operation. Only seven per cent of those taking part found that their web service was very reliable, while a total of 32 per cent claim that they regularly lose their connection and 4.5 per cent deemed their service to be "very unreliable".
One response in the survey – which was anonymous – stated: "We run a consultancy business and property business partly in London and partly in Aviemore. We hoped to run them from Aviemore only, but given the poor broadband service, we simply cannot.
"The poor broadband provision prevents us from moving our business here 100 per cent. There is no other reason preventing us."
Another said: "It is one of our biggest frustrations – wanting to work hard to run and develop the business, but being unable to do so because of the awful connectivity."
One respondent stated: "When we lost the phone service again for 12 days before Christmas, it was a nightmare. It took the engineers four days to fix. They told us the equipment was put in in 1935, and so is difficult to repair. That beggars belief.
"How can anything put in place in 1935 be compatible with today’s phone lines and ultimately broadband?"
A local parent said: "My children have been registered through Deshar Primary School (Boat of Garten) on an educational website for on-line homework projects, but we are struggling to get a strong enough connection for long enough for them to complete the work. It is very frustrating for the children and very annoying for me."
However, not everyone believes that internet has such an important role to play. One respondent said: "It is a bit slow, but as long as I get my e-mails it’s not a problem. Too many people are hooked on technology these days. Nothing makes me more annoyed than a customer coming to my hotel from 3,000 miles away and asking for free wi-fi. We are in the Highlands – do activities or take in the scenery! Why come all this way to look at a computer screen?"
BT was the main internet service provider, accounting for 52.9 per cent of those responding. Some 16.1 per cent spend more than £35 per month for their connection, but most (28.4 per cent) spend between £15 and £20.
Most mobile phone respondents were on the O2 phone network (35.6 per cent), followed by Vodafone (24.6 per cent) and Orange (16.3 per cent).
Badenoch and Strathspey Highland councillor Dave Fallows (SNP) said: "The results of this survey are a damning indictment of British Telecom’s disdain for the less densely populated areas they are supposed to serve.
"The lack of any universal service obligation by Ofcom is a disgrace. The Scottish Government has recently introduced a digital infrastructure action plan, despite the difficult economic times, and Highland and Islands Enterprise will also play an important role in delivering a better service for our area.
"It is no use just ‘catching up’; we need actively to leap into the digital world with a bang, embracing in particular 4G mobile technology.
"If the right distribution network is set up, this could be the saviour of more remote areas, since ‘reach’ of a wireless signal is far greater in cost terms than that of fibre-optic cables, with all the inherent cost benefit analyses that go with it.
"This is, for the economy of the area, the single most vital priority for the next few years. The digital revolution can and must be delivered."
The Cairngorms Business Partnership welcome the work undertaken by the park authority and for "at last putting facts behind the commonly held frustrations" of using mobile phones and Internet locally.
Chief executive Alan Rankin said the current provision was restricting the economy of the area, the national park and the Highlands.
"All the trends point towards the increasing use of Smartphone and tablet devices (such as iPads) as the means of getting information," he said.
"Over the past 12 months, traffic to www.visitcairngorms.com from mobile devices has quadrupled, and now accounts for just over 20% of all traffic. Recent reports state that 46% of all phone users in the UK now have a Smartphone.
"The potential for business expansion and attracting new business sectors to the area that work in the expanding digital economy is hampered, and as it stands is unlikely to tempt a business to relocate here."
Mr Rankin added: "At the CBP conference last November, Finance Minister John Swinney MSP took away the message that customer trends are moving faster than infrastructure development plans can keep pace with. The Minister committed to taking that message back to his Cabinet colleagues."
Badenoch MSP Dave Thompson (SNP) is confident that improvements will be made in the next few years.
He said: "As someone who lives and works in the Highlands, I am painfully aware of the frustrations of poor Internet and mobile coverage. I am, however, optimistic that this situation will change soon.
"The Scottish Government has set out to deliver world-class Broadband to all Scots by 2020, and the details can be found in Scotland’s Digital Future – Infrastructure Action Plan.
"Closer to home, Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) are planning to roll out Broadband across the constituency, with work beginning in 2013. "They will cover the length and breadth of the region, and most importantly, have assured me that they will prioritise universal coverage with a minimum of 2MB for everyone.
"The conventional delivery of next-generation Broadband via fibre-optic is unlikely to work in the more rural areas, so HIE will use alternatives, such as satellite, wi-fi and 4G. HIE has promised that this will be included in the contract with BT, the sole bidder for the work."
A spokesman for the Cairngorms National Park Authority said that the survey provided a comprehensive picture of the problems for them to argue for improvements to be made as quickly as possible.
He said: "The on-line survey provides a strong and convincing evidence base for action. This will be used to influence discussions with the Scottish Government and key strategic partners including local authorities, enterprise networks and the industry to ensure that the many rural communities across the national park do not remain disadvantaged with poor communication services."
See full report at www.cairngorms.co.uk/live-work/digital-connectivity