Whitespace Technology - Connecting the unconnected in Argyll and Bute

18th March 2019

Whitespace Technology is pleased to announce that we will be rolling out superfast broadband to the Argyll & Bute area, beginning with a small rural community in Loch Striven.

This project will see residents receive connection speeds of up to 30Mbps, with the rollout beginning in April funded by local businesses and property owners. There is scope for the project to be extended across all of Argyll & Bute very quickly following a successful Phase 1 rollout. Mark Wheeler, Whitespace Technology CEO, says, -Rural communities stand to benefit the most from the internet and digital innovation, but are consistently left behind by fixed-line broadband rollouts. "We're focussed on delivering high-speed, high-quality internet services to rural communities across Scotland, and the whole of the UK. The Loch Striven community has been engaged and open to considering new and innovative ways to get connected, and we're excited to be a part of getting them online at last. Peter Griffiths, Loch Striven community spokesperson, says -Connectivity services across Argyll & Bute, but particularly Loch Striven, are unreliable, slow and expensive. We needed a solution which delivered value for money, but most importantly gave us a working service at the speeds required for today's digital activities. "This is crucial to people and businesses across the whole area. We're pleased to be working with Whitespace Technology to achieve this and look forward to a successful partnership. Background We were originally approached by property owners from the peninsula at Loch Striven to see if we could deliver much-needed broadband service to the community. As a rural community, broadband connectivity is poor or non-existent and the prospects of delivering fixed line superfast broadband are slim. The online experience today is especially poor due to slow speeds and unreliable connection quality. Loch Striven is a Sea Loch extending off the Firth of Clyde, and forms part of the Cowal peninsula coast in Argyll & Bute. Our mix of TVWS and Fixed Wireless access is a perfect fit for this kind of environment, due to the long-range nature and the ability to combat challenging terrain. The target community for Phase 1 of this project covers a sizeable rural area near Ardyne Point. Each property will be able to access wireless broadband at speeds of upto 30Mbps, which will be transformative given the current connection speeds of less than 2Mbps. Subsequent phases are planned to offer services to extend the service onto Bute and across towards the communities at Colintraive and Glendaruel and beyond to other under-served locations across Argyll & Bute. About Whitespace Technology Whitespace Technology Ltd is a Sheffield based ISP delivering wireless broadband services which utilize the TV Whitespace spectrum. The term 'TV white space' (TVWS) is the name given to parts of the wireless spectrum that were freed up during the digital TV switchover. TVWS radios offer broadband speeds over several kilometres and unlike typical wireless technology (using 2.4Ghz & 5Ghz) the signal can travel through permanent obstacles such as buildings and trees, as well as around terrain. Given the appealing characteristics of TVWS, a number of potential uses have been identified, including providing broadband connectivity to rural communities, delivering wireless connectivity across campuses, social housing, and connecting IoT devices. Whitespace Technology Ltd can now deliver broadband in these gaps over several kilometres, and the signal can travel over hills and challenging terrain, through buildings and trees with ease. This makes our solution go where broadband has never gone before, connecting the unconnected. Contact Information whitespacetechnology.net 0333 335 0573 mand.beckett@whitespaceuk.com