Member Avatar for rebecca.edmund

Hi, I need help with the options available to provide high speed and reliable Internet connections to this premises:
Premises 1: A new business park on Pickaquoy Road in the centre of Kirkwall, Orkney Islands

What should be the best broadband choice for this location? There is a backbone in Thurso. What is the suitable technology i can use to create a connection from Thurso to Kirkwall?

Thank you.

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by Member #949455

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A concise, practical plan that follows on from ’s question and ’s point that “location matters.”

Start by verifying what’s already available at the Pickaquoy Road postcode (KW15). Public coverage checks show gigabit-capable service reported for that area, so full‑fibre may already be an option. (streetcheck.co.uk)
Openreach equipment and ducts are present in the road nearby (recent Openreach works on Pickaquoy Road), so your first commercial contact should be Openreach or a business ISP who can use Openreach or an alternative local fibre build. (orkney.gov.uk)

Preferred technical choices (order of preference for a business park):

  • Full fibre (FTTP) or a dedicated leased Ethernet / DIA circuit (symmetric speeds, SLA, static IP). These are the reliable, long‑term business options and UK wholesale platforms support Ethernet and diverse access across the islands. (btwholesale.com)
  • Where full fibre is not immediately feasible, a licensed point‑to‑point microwave (radio) backhaul or managed wireless has been used for island links — it needs line‑of‑sight, an Ofcom fixed‑link licence and a professional site survey. (ofcom.org.uk)
  • As short‑term or redundancy options use bonded 4G/5G routers and/or satellite (LEO/VSAT). Island operators and customers have turned to satellite/Starlink-style services for resilience when subsea cables are cut. (ispreview.co.uk)

A critical resilience note: Orkney’s international and regional reach relies on subsea fibre (SHEFA routes), which has suffered damaging outages in the past — insist on physically diverse routing or dual circuits to avoid single‑cable failure. (shefa.fo)

Action checklist: run an FTTP/leased‑line availability check; request multiple quotes (Openreach, local altnets, specialist wireless installers); order a vendor site survey and duct/wayleave report; require SLA/fix times, diversity options (dual homing) and a clear installation timeline; check Scottish R100/voucher support for island builds where applicable. (orkney.gov.uk)

This gives a short, vendor‑neutral roadmap: verify local fibre first, then seek a business leased service with engineered diversity, and budget for a microwave or cellular/satellite backup while civil works or full‑fibre build are completed.

Member Avatar for Member #949455

Need help with Fast Internet in a Business

The question you ask it's a bit difficult to answer.

The reason why is the location.

As long as the phone lines or cable is running then any internet service won't have any issue.

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