HIGHLANDS AND ISLANDS SUPERFAST BROADBAND ROLL-OUT HITS HEIGHTS AND REACHES FURTHER

Published:

Categories: News


Brendan O’Hara MP
“Local MP welcomes news of second round of extended broadband coverage”:

Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon has announced today that 25,000 more Highlands and Islands homes and businesses than originally planned will be able to access superfast broadband.Having met the contract’s target to deliver access to superfast to around 124,000 homes and businesses, the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) project is now expected to deliver superfast access to almost 150,000 premises by next year. As well as bringing fibre to some new areas, the extended build will also boost speeds for some places, which do not yet have superfast.

Two new exchange areas in Argyll and Bute, Kilchenzie and Kilninver, previously not reached within the budget, are expected to see some coverage and around 80 existing projects across the Highlands and Islands will see extended coverage and more local infrastructure to improve speeds.

The Scottish Government has committed to bringing superfast broadband access to all premises by 2021, and a procurement to deliver the Roaching 100% (R100) project is currently under way.

Commenting, Argyll and Bute MP, Brendan O’Hara said:

“This is excellent news for Argyll and Bute and I am delighted to hear that the DSSB project has passed its original targets and is providing opportunities for businesses and communities across the constituency.”
“When launched in 2014, this project was one of the most challenging broadband projects in Europe, due to the geography of rural Scotland, the scattered nature of the population and the lack of existing or planned fibre infrastructure.”
“It has been a huge engineering challenge and there’s still some way to go, however we will build on this success and the R100 programme, backed with £600 million, will 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.”