Gigafast service hits early snag

East Plean Primary School staged their nativity “Whoopsa Daisy”, the story of a disorganised but busy angel who is chosen to show the way to Bethlehem.

Senior early childhood educator Miss Hardie and P1 teacher Mrs Harvey were on hand to guide the pupils through an entertainment show.

Villagers have been left frustrated after discovering that many devices are not compatible with a new ‘gigafast broadband’ service installed there.

Stirling MSP Bruce Crawford is seeking answers from the chief executive of Vodafone over the service received by some constituents in Cambusbarron.

Work aimed at turning Stirling into `gigabit city,’ with homes able to hook up to `gold standard’ broadband technology, has been going on across the city for much of the year.

CityFibre has been laying the cables that provide access to the new system and struck a deal with Vodafone which is marketing the superfast technology.

However, Mr Crawford has been contacted by a constituent from the village who claimed many of his devices appeared not to be compatible with the new service, and that there had been some delay in rectifying the issue.

The constituent signed up to Vodafone in September but after two weeks began having problems with the router resetting itself which meant there was no consistent internet or landline phone access.

He was told last month there was a known issue with Vodafone’s Gigafast router `firmware’ making it incompatible with Apple devices.

He was told that a fix would be issued across the network and he would receive a refund for three months access. He has since been advised that it will take until January to rectify this issue.

A spokesperson for Vodafone said: “We are sorry that our customer as had problems with Vodafone Gigafast broadband service. The issue is due to a recent software update which has resulted in a small number of Apple devices having difficulty connecting to the home router. We continue to work closely with the router manufacturer to resolve this issue. In the meantime, we would ask any customer who is experiencing any problems to contact us.”

Mr Crawford said: “The rollout of the new Gigafast service in Stirling is an exciting step in modernising our communication infrastructure.

I have also been impressed by how quickly this has been installed in some areas already.

“However, people expect a seamless service and there has clearly been issues with connecting to some devices.

“Whilst I appreciate that Vodafone has identified the issue and is working to resolve it, I hope that this can be rectified as quickly as possible so that my constituents can enjoy some of the fastest internet speeds in the UK on all of their devices.”

In April, the Observer told how residents in Cambusbarron called for a “deep clean” of the village following the fibre broadband infrastructure works there by London-based CityFibre. Villagers claimed following the work, drains were left blocked with construction materials, areas had become flooded, gravel and rubble was left on village pavements, mud on walkways, and flytipping.

CityFibre said they aimed to carry out reinstatement works to a high standard and were working with their contractor and the Stirling Council roads team to ensure standards were met.

People expect a seamless service and there has clearly been issues