Access to fibre broadband in the Highlands and Islands has reached more than 295,000 homes and businesses.
Around 200 towns and villages of all shapes and sizes, from Mossbank in Shetland, to Machrihanish in Kintyre, have been drawn into the new next generation broadband network thanks to the £146m Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) project.
When combined with BT’s commercial roll-out this means almost 8 in 10 homes and businesses in the region can now check if they can benefit from broadband connections at speeds of up to 80Mbps.
The DSSB programme, led by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) for its region, underpins the Scottish Government’s aim for Scotland to become a world class digital nation by 2020.
Funding comes from the Scottish Government, Broadband Delivery UK, HIE itself, and private sector partner BT, with engineers from Openreach, BT’s local network business, delivering the project on the ground.
Stuart Robertson, director of digital at HIE, said: “In 2013, only 4% of Highlands and Islands premises had access to fibre-based broadband – now we are about to reach 80%.
“At the end of October we announced that additional roll-out in this current contract will reach a bit further than initially thought – to 86% of the region’s premises in 2017.
“The investment has created a brand new core fibre network which is bringing high speed services to many communities for the first time.
“As well as the local connections, the network provides easier access to dedicated services for businesses, and the improved backhaul means mobile operators can extend their 4G services.”
The project has seen some notable achievements:
- The largest subsea fibre cable laying project undertaken in the UK – with 400km of cable linking some of the country’s most remote island communities.
- Moray has seen the largest percentage swing in fibre coverage in the past three years of any local authority area – going from getting its first connection in November 2013 to 90% coverage today.
To benefit from the faster connection speeds, residents need to sign up for a fibre service with their chosen provider, as upgrades aren’t automatic. Check availability at the HIE website.
More coverage is set to follow as the rollout continues into 2017. For those not reached under this contract, the Scottish Government has committed to 100% access to superfast broadband speeds in Scotland by 2021.
A review will identify everyone who can’t access 30Mbps and an ‘intervention’ area drawn up where additional investment could see services extended further.