Residents on the Isle of Tiree, one of Scotland’s most westerly islands in the Inner Hebrides, have been asked to avoid video calls and streaming after Storm Amy severely damaged the island’s only fibre link to the mainland – leaving hundreds cut off from vital digital services.
The subsea cable, which carries broadband, mobile data, and digital phone connections, was damaged earlier this month during the storm, plunging the community into near-total communication blackout.
A temporary satellite system has been installed to keep essential services such as the GP surgery and post office online, but the community-owned Tiree Broadband network says strict data limits mean the entire island must ration usage.
“We’re asking people not to stream or make video calls because we can’t risk data access getting worse,” said Rhoda Meek from the Tiree Community Development Trust. “It shouldn’t be down to the community to pay for this data — it’s costing around £10,000 a month just to keep us connected.”
Engineers have located the damaged cable around 600 metres offshore, but repairs will require calm weather and a specialist barge – meaning full restoration may not be possible until December.
For now, Tiree’s 700 residents are relying on a single BT-supplied Starlink dish integrated into the local not-for-profit network. The trust has prioritised vulnerable households and essential services while asking everyone else to keep data use to a minimum.
Mobile coverage also remains patchy, with EE and BT 4G described as “erratic” and residents often forced to stand in gardens to get a signal.
The outage has had a major impact on local businesses. Kirsteen McKinnon, who runs a haulage firm serving clients across Scotland, said daily operations have become almost impossible:
“We can’t contact drivers, access vehicle trackers or organise deliveries – everything relies on calls and emails.”
Tourism operators are also struggling. Fraz MacInnes, who runs sea tours and car hire on the island, said:
“Bookings come in online, but we can’t even see them. During the storm our manager was abroad, and I had to text her in Spain to check who was arriving on flights.”
Ms Meek said the crisis exposed how vulnerable remote communities remain, even with modern full-fibre rollouts underway.
“We were winding down Tiree Broadband because fibre was coming, and now we’ve had to rebuild it. This shows fibre isn’t infallible – and without a proper backup, entire communities can be cut off.”
Neil MacPhail, chair of the Tiree Community Development Trust, added:
“Right now the community is effectively doing the work of BT and Openreach to keep people connected. Without financial support to cover satellite costs, we simply can’t reach everyone.”
A BT spokesperson said the company’s Emergency Response Team had deployed temporary solutions to “maintain essential connectivity services” and was working with the community to keep the network online until repairs are completed.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said it was liaising closely with BT, Openreach and other partners to ensure Tiree’s fibre link is restored as soon as possible, while satellite connectivity remains in place in the meantime.
