22 October 2024
UltraNetworks has used vouchers from the Scottish Government to help it upgrade and deploy a new 5G Standalone (SA) based fixed wireless (FWA) network from Mormond Hill..jpg?lu=106)
The site will be able to serve businesses and homes in rural parts of North East Aberdeenshire with 1Gbps+ broadband speeds.
The vouchers offer grants worth up to £5,000 per property to homes in sub-30Mbps speed areas to help them get a faster network installed. UltraNetworks was able to use the Scottish Government’s R100 SBVS voucher scheme to deploy their new 5G SA broadband solution at the Mormond Hill site, which is a former NATO telecoms base that was used during the Cold War. The kit was deployed on top of an existing 40m high mast and should provide coverage across 600 square kilometres, which includes more than 1,000 SBVS eligible premises.
The project will initially provide 5G SA broadband to 31 premises on the outskirts of Fraserburgh, with others will follow. The official announcement claims that customers ‘could experience speeds of up to 1.2Gbps,’ although the provider’s website is only promoting packages going up to 300Mbps.
“One of the challenges of 5G is that it’s still very new, a lot of research is required and it’s a steep learning curve to really get to grips with the full architecture of a 5G network,” said Jerry Briant, Managing Director at UltraNetworks. “It requires multiple systems to be working together to deliver the network and troubleshooting can be complex, but we’re delighted to see this service go live, thanks to SBVS.”
