Argyll and Bute Connected

Argyll and Bute has become the first Council area to be fully connected under an innovative high speed broadband initiative.

The £70million Pathfinder North scheme, which began in May 2007 and is part-funded by the Scottish Government, aims to implement a future-proof broadband network, provided by Cable&Wireless business THUS, across five Highlands and Islands local authorities.

The last site in Argyll and Bute, Skipness Primary School, was connected last Wednesday (December 2nd).

Now 146 locations across the authority – including all schools, libraries and office sites – are benefiting from high speed broadband.

Argyll and Bute is the first of the partnership of five local authorities (the others being Highland, Moray, Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands) to be fully connected to the new Cable&Wireless Pathfinder North network.

The news was welcomed by Council Leader Dick Walsh, who said the initiative had been a great success.

“This was one of the largest telecoms build projects in the UK, and we are delighted to be the first area to fully benefit from it,” he added.

“Pathfinder North not only provides our key sites with high bandwidth internet access, but will also connect us with 654 other locations across the Highlands and Islands.

“We can now run very advanced computer software applications, interactive service provision to the public and multimedia-rich education applications to enhance the traditional learning environment in schools.

“In addition, it allows all schools in Argyll and Bute to connect to GLOW, the national schools’ intranet which promises to transform the way education is delivered in Scotland.

“We are very proud to be the first local authority to be fully connected and we look forward to continuing to use the technology now available to us in an innovative and exciting way, for the benefit of everyone in Argyll and Bute.”

Pathfinder North, once completed, will connect 800 local authority sites across the five Council areas.