New rural gigabit-capable broadband being rolled out in Strathspey
A brand new gigabit-capable broadband network in the north of the strath has been described as ‘game changing’ by one of its earliest adopters.
One of StrathspeyNow's first customers is Richard Elliott, who lives in Tulloch by Nethy Bridge, owner of a drone filming business.
Mr Elliott has said he is heavily reliant on fast broadband.
He told the Strathy: “I've made the best I could of satellite and 4G over the years. Satellite is fast but extremely limited in monthly capacity, and 4G is unlimited but gives me download speeds of 10 Mbps at best.”
“I was thrilled to sign up to StrathspeyNow's service.”
StrathspeyNow’s ISP engineers undertook scoping surveys across the area in the Christmas countdown – and began the process of connecting those who have registered.
Mr Elliott said: “Installation couldn't have been easier, with extremely helpful installers checking what projected speeds would be possible, before carrying out the work there and then.
"I am now receiving more than 60 Mbps download speeds – a complete game changer for me.
"I couldn't be happier with the outcome.”
The team delivering the network are now working on what they have described as 'phased connections', firstly, writing to homes and businesses across the area that have line of sight to the network’s equipment and that are eligible for government support.
Secondly, they will also be working with all who have registered to date and then encouraging newcomers who are interested in the service to sign-up.
Simon Baldwin of Destination Digital – the lead company delivering StrathspeyNow – said: “We connected our first customers before Christmas and are now connecting homes and businesses against our roll-out plans.
"We are delighted with the feedback we have receiving received.”
He continued: “Our scoping work has identified that we can connect properties from Carrbridge and Boat of Garten in the west, across rural areas including Tulloch and Dulnain Bridge to Grantown and Cromdale in the east.
"In total, we can cover around 50 square miles with the equipment we have invested in and installed.”
Mr Baldwin said behind the project is also a desire to help deliver community benefit. StrathspeyNow is already delivering through managed digital channels, building engaged audiences who are acting as advocates.
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He said: “Our work elsewhere shows that managed, integrated digital communication can deliver significant benefits to businesses, community partners, culture and tourism groups, education and training providers as well as health and social care partnerships – all combining to support economic development.
"We are thrilled to be ‘live’ and receiving great feedback from those we are connecting but this is still at the very early stages.
"Over the coming weeks and months, we will connect more in our phased roll-out and be able to deliver more support for the Strathspey community.”
The unique project has been championed by the Grantown Society who first met with the network partners more than five years ago.
Society spokesman John Halliday said: “Our area is very poorly served by connectivity. We know from research StrathspeyNow has undertaken that many are receiving paltry speeds from existing providers.
"It has taken a huge amount of time, patience, and investment from the project’s partners to get to this point, but we are now seeing what is possible – game changing speeds that will deliver significant benefit to residents, businesses and visitors.”
For anyone who wishes to register, you can do so via https://bit.ly/StrathspeyNow-SignUp
What about prices?
Since the outset of the project, the network providers have pledged to deliver download speeds that are better than those achieved by the larger providers.
They are keen to point out that, from their research of data received from hundreds who have registered so far, the 'best average' download speed being received across the area is just over 15Mbps.
For those able to join StrathspeyNow, the entry-level service guarantees more than twice that at 30Mbps 'at a cost that is comparable with other providers'.
Similarly, whereas with most traditional providers you buy a fixed data package, through StrathspeyNow, customers can choose and pay for packages that deliver incremental speeds - 30, 40, 60 or more if the requirement exists.
