The Shetland Islands council has begun a battle with BT to ensure it is not overlooked when it comes to next generation broadband, it has been reported.
Councillors have called the fact the islands are falling behind in terms of cabling infrastructure "scandalous" and accused BT of basing their decision to withhold network upgrades for commercial reasons, according to the Shetland News.
A council development committee which looked into the cost of the upgrade found that it would set them back £20 million if every house on the isles was connected to the fibre optic network, however, the cost could be cut in half if just 70 per cent of houses were connected, the news provider states.
Bill Manson, Shetland councillor, told the paper: "We need to press for the total cabling of Shetland to enable our population to participate in this."
Meanwhile, BT has said that it is expecting to shed at least 10,000 jobs by March of next year.
Last Updated: 14/11/2008 17:03
Networking News Feed 
0845 2000 256 - 
0845 2000 257