Europe’s largest quarry predicts boost in productivity thanks to satellite broadband installation from Scottish Company, Internet Anywhere
It’s the largest super-quarry in Europe producing more than seven million tonnes of aggregate for some of the biggest civil engineering and
construction projects in the country.
But Glensanda on the south coast of the Morven Peninsula near Lochaber, is so remote that for years it’s had to operate with no Internet access or mobile phone coverage.
Now, this massive operation is finally online after satellite broadband provider, Internet Anywhere, made a challenging 15-hour round trip to
install a state-of-the-art satellite system at the site.
John Fitzgerald, owner of Dundonald-based, Internet Anywhere, said: “This was one of the most hard-to-reach locations that we’ve been to, for
sure. It’s not accessible by road, so we had a long drive to the port where a special barge took our kit across the water.
“A drive 2000ft up the side of a mountain and a two-hour induction course later, we were ready to set up the system. We installed two dishes and
within a few hours, out in the middle of nowhere, this site had fast, reliable broadband,” he explained.
Set up in 2011, Internet Anywhere provides high-speed satellite broadband to remote parts of Scotland, mobile sites and any place where access to the Internet is otherwise unavailable.
Glensanda will now be able to record production data, monitor logistics and access vital company information online.
It’s a welcome improvement for the site that operates like a mini city with more than 200 staff, a processing plant, its own landing strip for small aircraft and a fleet of ships that transport granite aggregate to customers around the world.
Paul Bird, project manager at the super-quarry, said that being connected to
the Internet would make a difference to productivity.
“We are at the start of a four year contract and we need reliable communications to allow orders to be placed quickly with suppliers. In a day,
we’ve gone from having no email and no access to our company servers or intranet, to having four lines hard-wired and wireless,” he explained.
“It’s all working well and the system is surprisingly simple,” he added.
Plans are now underway for further satellite broadband installations at the site.
John from, Internet Anywhere, said: “Time and time again, we’re proving that Tooway satellite broadband really is the only system that can reach
everywhere.”
“It’s quick and cheap to deploy and the performance is the same whether we’re installing in the middle of the city centre or in the most remote and
hard-to-access locations in Scotland like Glensanda,” he explained.
