Customers are quitting internet providers after being told it could be another fortnight before the latest outage is resolved.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The Shef-2 cable has now been damaged twice in three months – and each time it has caused severe disruption.<\/p>\n
The latest issue, caused by Storm Amy, resulted in flights to and from Sumburgh Airport being cancelled last Sunday and Monday.<\/p>\n
Faroese Telecom, which maintains the service, was unable to provide an estimated repair time when last approached.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are working with Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) to organise the repair,\u201d said managing director P\u00e1ll H\u00f8jgaard Vesturb\u00fa.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause the damage is close to shore, certain preparations must be made locally before the repair vessel can begin offshore work\u201d<\/p>\n
Shetland Telecom said yesterday ASN was continuing is planning for the new shore landing at Ayre of Cara (Orkney).<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have identified that a physical inspection of the area of the cable fault will be required as part of the repair,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow long that inspection will likely take is unknown.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cShetland Telecom services continue to operate as per normal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Customers still affected complained the ongoing outage was \u201cmadness\u201d and said people in Shetland were being treated as \u201csecond class citizens\u201d.<\/p>\n