90,000 homes and businesses in 18 local authorities across Scotland have been revealed as the next to benefit from the superfast fibre-based broadband being rolled out across the country.
The next stage of the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme will bring fibre to communities including Macduff, Glamis, Kirkwall, Annan, Kinglassie and Portmahomack for the first time.
The £410million Digital Scotland plan has already connected 55,000 premises and plans to connect a quarter of a million homes and business premises with this next phase.
Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “Today marks another important milestone for the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband partnership. The scale of the challenge of delivering fibre broadband across Scotland is greater than any other part of the UK and indeed, much of Europe.
“It’s fantastic news that more communities and businesses around the country will soon begin to see the benefits of high quality digital connectivity, making them more economically viable in the long term.”
The announcement comes days after the Scottish Government unveiled plans for broadband for all in an independent Scotland.
Brendan Dick, BT Scotland director said: “We’re really proud of our role at the heart of Scotland, delivering critical infrastructure which helps the nation to compete on a world stage. We could only reach the parts of Scotland that lay beyond commercial deployment by working with others, and I find it really heartening that so many of our smaller communities now stand to benefit.”
“Our ongoing deployment of fibre across the country is one of the biggest civil engineering projects happening in Scotland today and will be to the advantage of generations to come.”