More than 95% of Scotland’s homes and businesses are now able to connect to fibre broadband, the Scottish Government has announced.
The roll-out has been delivered through the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) project, with a contribution of £280m from across the public sector in Scotland.
Without the DSSB programme, said the Government in a statement, it is estimated that only 66% of Scotland would be able to receive fibre broadband.
“Fast and reliable internet is fundamental for the future economic and social success of communities right across Scotland,” said Connectivity Secretary Fergus Ewing.
“This is a landmark for the programme, which has connected around 890,000 premises to fibre broadband, and is ensuring Scotland can offer world-class digital infrastructure.
“However, we want to go further, and we are now focusing on delivering our £600 million ‘Reaching 100%’ programme, which is the biggest public investment ever made in a single UK broadband project. This will make sure every single premise in Scotland can access a speeds of at least 30Mbps by the end of 2021.”
The Government said 95% coverage was achieved at the end of last year, “in line with the commitment made in the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government 2017 and has been subject to checking and confirmation processes until this point”.
DSSB is delivered through two projects – led by Highlands and Islands Enterprise in its area, and the Scottish Government in the rest of Scotland.
Funding partners also include the UK Government, BT Group, local authorities, and the EU via the European Regional Development Fund.