About Borders Online
A community broadband network for the northern Scottish Borders, and also parts of South Lanarkshire and the Lothians.
Our story
Stobo Dawyck Community Network and Heriot Community Broadband both started around 2013, providing local internet services to the rural parts of the Scottish Borders which had been neglected by the big providers.
Borders Online was formed in 2019 when Heriot Community Broadband was incorporated into Stobo Dawyck Community Network.
The two networks merged to reduce duplication of service and support functions and to let the combined network grow. They were already closely aligned; the same people involved in both networks and a number of masts serving both sets of customers. Bringing everything into one network was a natural progression.
What we believe
The ethos of Borders Online is to support our community with good quality internet services, and provide truly local support for that community. There are no off-shore call centres and every one of the team is local to this area.
We know we can’t compete on price - we are too small to get the same levels of wholesale pricing as the larger telco’s. Where we excel is being there for this community when it needs it - from impartial advice to technical expertise - even away from our core services; we aim to be trusted advisors for your network needs.
The company is set up as a not-for-profit. Subscriptions directly pay for the services being provided and the team behind it. No share holders - no ‘bonus’ payments for investors. If there is ‘spare’ money, it goes into improving the services or reducing the costs of the services, never share holders.
What we do
Network expertise for communities and businesses
Borders Online provides overall network expertise, from consultancy and design to monitoring and maintenance. We also offer advice and consultancy on servers, storage, telephony and project management.
- Two local networksStobo Dawyck and Heriot start providing internet connections using radio links.
- Borders Online is formedThe networks merge to share support and keep growing.
- Post covid, FTTP starts to appearWe start to offer FTTP services, but also use it to add capacity and resilience - reducing the reliance on long over-the-hill links.
- Wireless, fibre and phoneServing the northern Borders, South Lanarkshire and into the Lothians.
Coverage area
Where the network reaches
Borders Online covers primarily the northern part of the Scottish Borders plus into some parts of South Lanarkshire and the Lothians.
We are happy to work with communities to extend the network, so if you are almost in the coverage area, please get in touch.
Not sure which plan suits you?
Email or call the help desk and we will talk it through, including whether one of our sites can reach your property.