More than 5,300 homes and businesses in Ayrshire, Edinburgh, Falkirk, Fife, Stirlingshire, Greater Glasgow and Lothian will get access to gigabit speeds thanks to the first £4.5 million to be awarded from the UK government’s nationwide gigabit programme.
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These premises currently have slow speeds and were already due to benefit from superfast broadband through the Scottish Government’s Reaching 100 (R100) programme, which is scheduled to invest £83 million in central Scotland.
But now, thanks to an agreement between the UK and Scottish governments the properties will get gigabit-capable full fibre broadband built directly to their doorsteps.
While superfast provides minimum speeds of 30 megabits per second, gigabit broadband delivers lightning-fast speeds capable of reaching 1,000 megabits per second.
The move will future-proof people’s internet connections in these areas for the next thirty to forty years and allow them to take full advantage of cutting-edge technologies such as 8K TV and virtual reality streaming.
Matt Warman, UK Minister for Digital Infrastructure said: "The first pound to be spent from our £5 billion pot for gigabit broadband will be in Scotland. That’s because it is our mission to deliver lightning-fast next-generation internet connections to all parts of the UK as we build back better from the pandemic.
"And this is just the start. Other areas of Scotland and the rest of the UK will benefit from our record investment in this national broadband upgrade and we’ll announce more regions shortly."
The Scottish Government’s R100 programme is in the process of ensuring that all homes and businesses across Scotland can access superfast broadband. The vast majority of connections will be gigabit-capable and delivered via full fibre cables built directly to premises - known as Fibre to the Premise (FTTP).
In Central Scotland there are some premises which were set to be delivered via Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) technology.
The UK Government has committed to delivering nationwide coverage of gigabit capable broadband through its £5 billion UK Gigabit Programme, with a minimum target of 85% coverage by 2025. The £5 billion will be used to subsidise building in hard-to-reach areas that aren’t set to benefit from planned industry rollout. ■