Customers are quitting internet providers after being told it could be another fortnight before the latest outage is resolved.
Some Shetland customers have already been without internet for more than a week following the latest break of the Shefa-2 subsea cable off Orkney last Friday, 3rd October.
While some providers, such as Shetland Telecom, have been able to use the northern Shefa-2 link, which connects with Faroe, to maintain internet access – others have no back-up option.
And with reports that the repairs could take another two weeks to repair, some customers are ditching their providers in favour of companies with a more resilient service.
The Shef-2 cable has now been damaged twice in three months – and each time it has caused severe disruption.
The latest issue, caused by Storm Amy, resulted in flights to and from Sumburgh Airport being cancelled last Sunday and Monday.
Faroese Telecom, which maintains the service, was unable to provide an estimated repair time when last approached.
“We are working with Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) to organise the repair,” said managing director Páll Højgaard Vesturbú.
“Because the damage is close to shore, certain preparations must be made locally before the repair vessel can begin offshore work”
Shetland Telecom said yesterday ASN was continuing is planning for the new shore landing at Ayre of Cara (Orkney).
“They have identified that a physical inspection of the area of the cable fault will be required as part of the repair,” it said.
“How long that inspection will likely take is unknown.
“The cable ship is performing some testing at sea as part of the preparations for the repair and will return to Calais before heading for Orkney.
“Shetland Telecom services continue to operate as per normal.”
Customers still affected complained the ongoing outage was “madness” and said people in Shetland were being treated as “second class citizens”.
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