Superfast broadband roll-out reaches 900,000 premises

More than 900,000 premises in Scotland can now access superfast broadband, project bosses have announced.

The programme to roll-out fibre broadband across the country reached the milestone on Tuesday.

Places such as Cortachy in Angus, Dunscore in Dumfries and Galloway and the rural village of Forgue in Aberdeenshire are among those now able to receive fibre broadband for the first time.

Infrastructure Secretary Michael Matheson visited a business in rural Perthshire, Scarletts Honey, which is said to have benefited from the programme.

He said: "Fast and reliable internet is absolutely vital to communities across Scotland. It helps businesses stay connected with customers and colleagues, and helps families learn, work, play and shop.

"Our Reaching 100% programme, backed by an initial £600 million investment, plans to deliver superfast broadband access to every home and business in Scotland by the end of 2021 - the only part of the UK to do so."

Under the project, around 4,500 new fibre street cabinets are now live and more than 11,800km of cable have been laid by Openreach engineers, bosses said.

Robert Thorburn, fibre partnership director for Openreach in Scotland, said: "Hundreds of the latest properties passed by the new network can now connect to the most reliable and fastest residential broadband available as we're using more Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) to help these harder-to-reach homes join the digital revolution.

"Good connectivity is essential to a strong local economy and lets people live, learn, work and build businesses locally."

Led by Highlands and Islands Enterprise and the Scottish Government, funding partners on the programme include the UK Government, BT Group, local authorities and the European Regional Development Fund.

Advertisement