StevenPaterson

“Up to date broadband services are crucial in developing our modern economy with more companies conducting their businesses online and more people accessing online services - such as banking and shopping - than ever before.

For the Stirling Constituency which benefits from a wide and diverse economy, both our local tourism sector and our farming industries must have access to reliable broadband connections in order to compete. In Parliament, I have held the UK Government to account over the lack of commitment in rolling out superfast broadband to communities in rural Stirling and I am delighted to have played my part in calling for the legal separation of BT and Openreach which will make the system fairer and the company more accountable for broadband infrastructure delivery.

Indeed, it is the case that a higher percentage of households in England have access to modern broadband speeds than do in Scotland. That is why I am delighted that the SNP Scottish Government has gone above its devolved responsibility and is investing in these key areas.

Scotland is now on course to have 95 percent coverage for superfast broadband by the end of this year and the SNP Government has committed to achieving 100 percent coverage by the end of this parliamentary term. As a number of active community broadband groups in the local area are fully aware, reaching our most rural communities presents a number of challenges and often the cost of traditional infrastructure can outweigh the return that would be gained.

That is why the Scottish Government has tasked Digital Scotland with investigating new and innovative ways of reaching every single household with superfast broadband by 2021 - which may include the use of satellite broadband.

Connecting“the final five percent”is a mammoth task, but one that we must be committed to in order to ensure that every community has access to modern and up to date broadband services as soon as possible.”