Day: July 4, 2022

Improving rural connectivity

Enhanced 4G mobile phone coverage programme reaches halfway point.

A £28.75 million programme has ensured 4G mobile phone coverage has been expanded in dozens of more rural areas.

Improved digital connectivity has been delivered by the Scottish 4G Infill (S4GI) programme to help people across the country, from the Shetland Islands to the Borders, get online.

The programme has reached its milestone halfway point, building and activating 28 phone masts, with the remaining 27 on track to be connected by 2023.

Residents and businesses in Bogton, in Turriff in Aberdeenshire, were the latest to benefit from the programme.

Mobile network operator EE is providing 4G services across all bar one of the new sites, including the new Bogton mast, but all sites are capable of supporting multiple operators in the future.

S4GI is delivered in partnership with WHP Telecoms Ltd and the Scottish Futures Trust.

Economy Secretary Kate Forbes said: “The Scottish Government is helping more residents and workers get online and tackling some of Scotland’s longest standing mobile phone signal black spots.

“The availability of 4G services has proven transformational for members of these communities, who have taken advantage of new connectivity to enhance how they work, communicate with friends and family, access public services, purchase products and services and consume entertainment.

“The Scottish Government wants to build on that, through our National Strategy for Economic Transformation, to capitalise on the ability of enhanced digital connectivity to encourage innovation and growth. We will all need to work together to create a more prosperous, fairer and more sustainable nation.”

Howard Watson, Chief Technology Officer at BT Group, said: “In an increasingly digital world, bringing reliable connectivity to remote areas of Scotland is ever more important.  

“EE is now delivering 4G from 27 of the 28 masts built to date, boosting quality of life, local economies and helping to keep residents and visitors safe, by providing the Scottish Emergency Services with reliable ways to communicate.

“EE looks forward to bringing this essential infrastructure to more locations across the country through our partnership with Scottish Government and WHP Telecoms.”

Rob Tanner, a farrier and online table tennis coach near Bogton, said: “Being able to post videos and carry out coaching sessions without any problems is fantastic.

“I can now download a TV programme in seconds instead of hours, which is amazing.”

Edinburgh residents tell Rishi Sunak to make oil and gas giants pay, not ordinary people

As the cost of living crisis worsens, on Sunday 26th June and Sunday 3rd July Greenpeace volunteers spoke to people on Middle Meadow Walk and on Portobello Promenade about the connection between rising energy bills, Putin’s war, and the climate crisis.

They invited the public to write down how much their energy bills have already increased, and stick these messages onto a life-size cardboard cut-out of Chancellor Rishi Sunak. Volunteers found that most people’s bills had at least doubled and many were fearful of further increases. 

Jessie from Portobello wrote that her rising bills meant she hadn’t been able to put her heating on and was worried about what she would do in the Autumn, while another local wrote ‘my bills are not sustainable. Invest in greener energy!’ 

These messages, along with hundreds of others from across the UK, will be delivered directly to the Government so that Ministers can see how much people are really having to pay to heat their homes and cook food.

Anke, a Greenpeace volunteer from Bruntsfield, said: “‘I was shocked to hear how many more local people are worrying about being pushed into fuel poverty when bills rise again in the autumn. 

“Greenpeace Edinburgh volunteers are calling on the Chancellor to deliver an Emergency Energy Package that stops fuelling rising energy bills, the climate crisis and Putin’s war, and on our local MPs to keep the pressure on the Government until they do the right thing.” 

On 1st April energy bills went up by an average of £700, pushing 2.5 million UK households into fuel poverty. According to data published by Energy Action Scotland, as of last December, 24% of all households in Scotland live in fuel poverty. 

In October bills will rise again, potentially reaching up to an estimated £2600 per year, which could put 1 in 3 households in fuel poverty, according to National Energy Action. Life is only going to get harder for people in Edinburgh.

Although the Government has recently declared a windfall tax on oil and gas producers, this will only provide temporary relief and does nothing to address the causes of the climate or cost of living crises.

Greenpeace Edinburgh is calling for a tax rate of 70%, which could bring in an extra £13.4bn per year. £7.9bn of this tax should go towards the six million households experiencing fuel poverty. This would leave just over £5 billion to invest in the nationwide roll out of heat pumps, insulation and other energy efficiency measures as well as increasing investment in renewable energy infrastructure.

Anke continued: “This Government has failed to get a grip on the climate and cost of living crises. We’ll keep facing these problems for years to come while oil and gas giants pump out planet-trashing emissions and enjoy sky high profits.

“Join us in calling on the Chancellor to make them pay up”.