70 per cent of remote Scotland now connected to superfast broadband

More than 122,000 homes and businesses across the Highlands and Scottish Islands are now connected to superfast internet.

The 120 villages that would not have previously been reached under the wider rollout can now get the fibre optic broadband, with around 70 per cent of the region able to connect.

According to the Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), which is leading the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband project, the Shetlands, the Loch Ness region and Argyll are the most recent areas to get the new service. This follows the successful connection for John O' Groats, as well as the Orkney and Outer Hebrides islands, to superfast broadband.

The first phase of the rollout is expected to reach up to 84 per cent of premises by the end of 2016 and follows a report last month that many households and businesses would not be able to get connected due to the lack of commercial viability. However, now the initial rollout has happened, with an additional 9,000 premises in both the Shetland Islands and the Isle of Skye set to follow.

Stuart Robertson, the director of digital at HIE, previously said: “Without the public investment it simply wasn’t viable for the market to bring fibre to many parts of the Highlands.

“Digital Scotland partners, including our colleagues at Community Broadband Scotland, are looking at where we could reach with an additional phase of rollout and through community-led projects for those in the hardest to reach areas.”

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