A severed undersea cable disrupted mobile phone networks and internet communications in the isolated, oil-rich Shetland Islands north of Scotland on Thursday, a “major incident” for telecoms company BT.
Homes and businesses in the archipelago, which has about 23,000 people and lies 210 km north-east of Britain, had their access to most communication networks cut off overnight.
“Due to a break in an undersea cable connecting Shetland to the rest of Scotland, some phone, internet and mobile services are affected,” a BT spokesman said.
Cable deployed in 2007
“Engineers are working to divert these operations to other routes as quickly as possible. Our third-party submarine provider is also working to quickly restore the link.”
The Shetland Islands are connected to the rest of the country by the SHEFA2 fiber optic submarine cable, which connects the Faroe Islands, Shetland and Orkney with Scotland. This cable was deployed in 2007.
Repairs are being carried out on another cable connecting Shetland and the Faroe Islands after it was damaged last week. This cable needs to be repaired on Saturday.
Police have asked residents of the Shetland Islands to avoid non-emergency phone calls.
“We advise people not to make non-emergency calls so that available lines can be used in an emergency,” Supervisor General David Ross said.
Source: BFM TV
