The Scottish Government has surpassed it's commitment to deliver
gigabit-capable broadband connections to 20,000 homes and
businesses last year.
A record 27,000 premises were equipped with faster broadband in
2024-25 through the Scottish Government's Reaching 100% (R100)
programme, exceeding a Programme for Government commitment by
more than a third.
Connections have been made right across the country, from the
Killantringan Lighthouse in Dumfries and Galloway to Stornoway in
the Western Isles and Baltasound on Shetland.
The R100 contracts, being delivered by Openreach, have now
enabled more than 80,000 faster broadband connections across the
country, with 80% of all R100 contract build to take place in
rural areas.
Business Minister visited Loch Katrine in
the Trossachs to hear how access to faster broadband speeds is
helping transform opportunities for local businesses.
He said:
“Fast, reliable broadband is a fundamental building block for
economic growth. The Scottish Government's R100 programme is one
of the most ambitious and complex digital infrastructure
programmes in Europe, rolling out connections in some of the most
challenging locations in the country to help businesses and
communities prosper.
“Despite telecommunications being reserved to the UK Government,
our commitment to the R100 programme illustrates this
government's commitment to delivering the digital connectivity
people and businesses need to succeed.
“Exceeding our 2024-25 delivery target was helped by record
Scottish Government funding and an ongoing partnership with
Openreach maximising the opportunities to deliver fast broadband
to even more homes and businesses.”
CEO and Lead Trustee of the Steamship Sir Walter Scott Trust,
James Fraser said:
''The impact of the introduction of fibre cable connections at
Loch Katrine has been transformative for many aspects of our
core business and our tenants. With an increasing trend to
digital bookings for cruises, eco lodges, cycle hire and meals
out, having high speed digital connections is critical to the
success of our business and other businesses on the
lochside.
“Previously our digital speeds were very poor leading to customer
dissatisfaction, loss of bookings and customer complaints,
particularly from guests staying overnight in our eco lodges or
in campervans in our car parks. With the higher speeds now
available there has been a marked improvement in digital services
with increased customer satisfaction levels.''
Openreach Partnership Director for Scotland, Robert Thorburn,
said:
"It's brilliant to see businesses like the Steamship Sir Walter
Scott benefitting from full fibre. We're committed to making sure
that the hardest-to-reach homes and businesses in Scotland are
connected to the latest generation of broadband technology,
giving them access to the same fast, reliable services available
in our cities.
"While building new full fibre networks in rural areas throws up
many challenges, our engineers have the skills and experience to
overcome these and deserve an enormous amount of credit for their
work. We're proud of the role we've played, working alongside the
Scottish Government, in hitting this significant milestone - but
we know that our work isn't done yet, and we'll continue to
connect communities across the country."
Background
The commitment to connect over 20,000 premises to gigabit capable
broadband in areas of market failure by March 2025, through
delivery of three regional, multi-year contracts with Openreach
is set out in the Programme for Government
2024-25: Serving Scotland
Originally conceived as a superfast broadband programme, R100 is
now providing a gigabit-capable connection – a speed more than 30
times faster than superfast broadband - in around 99% of cases.
Building to some of the hardest-to-reach parts of Scotland, a
total of 78,000 connections have enabled access to faster
broadband as a result of the R100 contracts.
