When a couple in one of the far-flung areas of the Scottish Highlands and Islands enquired about obtaining a broadband connection to their home they were astounded to be quoted a figure in excess of £80,000 by British Telecom. It seems that while the couple already have a telephone line into their home, the original cable was split between a pay phone at another location in the area and the couple’s own telephone at home. So why were they quoted a figure in excess of £80,000?
It seems that when the cable was originally split between the two locations, this effectively ruined any opportunity to use the cable for broadband as the signal quality is too low. As a consequence British Telecom would need to relay a new cable for their broadband connection but for a price in excess of £80,000, for home broadband use, nobody in the world can justify this. It seems that the problem of broadband connectivity in some of the far-flung regions of the UK is set to continue for some time to come and ultimately the UK government and the broadband industry may have to look at alternatives in some cases.
Is there a case for looking again at satellite broadband connectivity?