Woeful broadband connection speeds in the south end of Bute are being tackled by frustrated residents on the island, which lies off the west coast of Scotland.

Residents put up with speeds as low as 0.4Mbps, far short of even the average UK speed, let alone the superfast broadband in major cities.

Around 50 locals packed into the Kingarth Hotel on Tuesday (September 10th 2013) to voice their concerns, according to local newspaper the Buteman.

The meeting was attended by a representative from Community Broadband Scotland (CBS), a government initiative designed to help remote and rural communities improve broadband services where it is uneconomic for commercial providers to meet demand.

Currently a pilot 'white space' project is operating at the south end of the island, using unused portions of the radio spectrum to boost broadband.

"We now have the basis of a group which is interested in taking the subject forward and we would appreciate people's feedback in the future," said Tom Cromack, who called the meeting.

So far, remote Applecross in Wester Ross is the only community to have benefited from the CBS project.

Some £68,520 was awarded to the remote West Highland community to develop an internet service which will be ten times faster than is currently available.

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