Fergus ewing, Cabinet seCretary For the rural eConomy and ConneCtivity

Telecommunications, including broadband and mobile, is a reserved matter, for which the UK Government has responsibility for funding and delivering.

However, Scottish ministers recognise the vital role that digital connectivity can play in growing our economy and creating a fairer Scotland.

That is why, along with our partners, we have invested more than £400 million in a digital programme which is on track to deliver fibre broadband access to 95% of premises across Scotland by the end of 2017.

The vast majority of these will be at superfast speeds, with more than 750,000 premises already getting access to fibre broadband as a result of the programme.

Last month I was lucky enough to visit BRAG Enterprises in Lochgelly, a social enterprise which was one of more than 70,000 businesses we connected to fibre broadband in the last six months alone.

Facilities manager Paul Melvin described the impact on local businesses as “amazing”, and charity Re-Employ reported a significant increase in production after connecting to the fibre service.

Inchture Hotel also informed us that bookings and productivity have soared thanks exclusively to fibre broadband.

They are now able to work faster and smarter, and also meet the high expectations that business visitors have regarding Wi-Fi connectivity.

We want all of Scotland’s businesses and families to enjoy benefits like this from highspeed broadband.

We are committed to delivering 100% superfast broadband access across Scotland by the end of 2021.

And work has started to get us there with publication of a state aid public consultation on how best to ‘reach 100%’

This consultation outlines the number of premises – more than 280,000 – which cannot access superfast speeds.

While many of them already have access to some level of connectivity, often it is at slower speeds, so these premises will be the focus of our ambitious target.

Learning from previous experience, our plans to reach 100% will prioritise public investment in the hardest-toreach rural and remote areas while recognising the key role commercial investment will continue to play in urban areas.