Superfast work – thousands of Scottish customers are linked to new broadband
More than 11,800km of cable has been laid in the national Openreach project, writes Angus Howarth
More than 900,000 premises in Scotland can now access superfast broadband, project bosses have announced.
The programme to rollout 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.”
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.
Last week, Nicola Sturgeon said that 25,000 additional homes and businesses in the Highlands and Islands will be able to access superfast broadband through the Digital Scotland roll-out.
The Scottish Government has committed to bringing superfast broadband access to all premises by 2021, and a procurement to deliver the Reaching 100% project is under way.