Dave sings praises of ‘lifeline’ upgrade
Well-known West Stirlingshire musician Dave Arcari has gone from climbing the banks of Loch Lomond to find a mobile signal to streaming online shows from his garden studio – following the installation of ultrafast broadband.
Openreach installed a full-fibre network in Balmaha as part of its work with the Scottish Government – giving around 120 local homes and businesses access to some of the faster, more reliable broadband.
To date, one in two households has ordered the new technology.
Popular local blues musician Dave , this week described the network as “a lifeline” which has helped his business to survive through the Covid pandemic.
In the early days of the pandemic, he had to rely on the goodwill of nearby commercial premises to keep his business running. But with gigabit-capable full fibre he can now operate ticketed streaming shows online from the studio in his garden.
Dave said: “When the pandemic hit, every tour I had planned was cancelled and the poor-quality internet service was stopping me harnessing the potential income that comes with live-streamed online gigs. The connection was so bad I was having to leave videos uploading for the whole night or traipsing a mile and a half up the banks of Loch Lomond to the only spot with three bars of 4G. Carrying all my equipment, instruments and umbrellas on bad days all that way was a struggle.
“The new service Openreach has now put in place, working with the Scottish Government, is nothing short of a gamechanger for my business. It’s cheaper, better, faster for livestreaming and uploading videos and has been an absolute lifeline. This broadband upgrade has really turned things around for the whole area and is great news for the rural economy as a whole.”
Openreach say that the full fibre broadband provides more reliable, resilient and future-proof connectivity, with fewer faults, more predictable, consistent speeds and enough capacity to easily meet growing data demands.
Robert Thorburn, Openreach Scotland partnership director, said: “We’re really pleased to be able make such a difference to the daily operations and activities of local people. And it’s great to hear that having access to better broadband has put Dave’s music business back on track.
“Full fibre is truly transformative for rural communities and, as the new network expands, there’s huge potential to let more and more people start up and run their businesses from any part of Scotland.
“We know that connecting everyone in Scotland to full fibre broadband would result in multi-billion pound economic boost. We want to make sure that progress is evenly spread and that people in all corners of the country can work from home efficiently and build opportunities on their doorstep.”
...I was traipsing a mile and a half up the banks of Loch Lomond to the only spot with three bars of 4G Dave Arcari