Half a million homes in Scotland on high-speed digital network

More than 500,000 Scottish homes and businesses can now connect to high-speed digital network.

The £410M nationwide project to go live through the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme is now two thirds complete, with two years remaining.

The Digital Scotland rollout consists of two projects, one of which covers the Highlands and Islands area, led by Highlands and Islands Enterprise. The other project covers the rest of Scotland, and is led by the Scottish government.

The engineering milestone was passed as a new fibre cabinet was built in Gretna Green.

More than 2,200 new fibre street cabinets have been built, with the most northern serving 80 homes in Bod of Gremista, Shetland and the most southern covering 250 premises in Isle of Whithorn, Dumfries and Galloway.

BT have invested £126M in the two projects which are being delivered on the ground by engineers from its local network business, Openreach. In excess of 500KM of cable has been laid by Openreach engineers.

Infrastructure Secretary Keith Brown said: “Today’s milestone is fantastic news for the 500,000 households and businesses across Scotland which would simply not have seen the benefits of high speed, high quality digital connectivity without the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme. It is among the most ambitious broadband infrastructure projects ever undertaken.”

One in four premises has already connected to the high-speed network, with Gretna Green one of the last to go live in the historic village.

Over 850,000 people visit Gretna Green each year, with 1,500 couples who visit to get married in the Famous Blacksmiths Shop.

Lynda Denton, Head of Sales & Marketing at Gretna Green Ltd, said: “WiFi being available is important, it provides our newlyweds and visitors, who come from all over the world, with the ability to share their photos and videos. It’s a wonderful way for Gretna Green love to be shared with friends and family back home.”

In total, more than 1.9 million Scottish premises can now get connected to high-speed broadband, with a variety of choice in cost and services.

Availability of fibre broadband for homes and businesses in the Highlands and Islands has grown by over 55 per cent since 2014 and is expected to reach at least 84 per cent by the end of this year.

Brendan Dick, BT Scotland Director, said: “We’re proud to be at the heart of digital life in Scotland and look forward to bringing high-speed services to some of our most remote communities in 2016.”

Other funding partners include the UK Government through Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK), local authorities and the European Regional Development Fund.

 

 

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