Scottish Government Pledges £2.5m For Rural Broadband As BDUK Rollout Continues

The Scottish government has pledged an additional £2.5 million towards the rollout of superfast broadband in the country, while the next 100 locations to benefit from the BDUK funded Digital Scotland programme have been announced.

Around 90,000 homes and businesses will have access to speeds of up to 80Mbps by this winter, joining the 55,000 that have already been covered by BDUK. Places like Macduff, Glamis, Kirkwall, Annan, Kinglassie and Portmahomac will receive fibre for the first time, while premises in larger cities such as Aberdeen and Glasgow will also be connected.

It is claimed that Digital Scotland will eventually cover more than 750,000 properties, contributing to the Scottish government’s target of 95 percent coverage by 2018.

BDUK Scotland

The £410 million partnership between the Scottish government, BDUK, BT and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) comprises two separate projects, one covering the Highlands and Islands region and another covering the rest of Scotland.

However some rural communities are not included in the rollout, prompting Holyrood to grant £2.5 million to Community Broadband Scotland (CBS), which has now received £7.5 million in funding and is working with 75 community groups in the country.

“We are making this investment in remote and rural communities across Scotland to enable them to establish their own community broadband networks,” said Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. “Improving digital connectivity doesn’t just boost economic opportunities, it transforms the way people live, work and learn, particularly in remote and rural Scotland.

“The Community Broadband Scotland programme is an important part of our work in empowering local communities, through this programme they can control their own digital destiny alongside the major infrastructure investment through our Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme.”

Rural future

The Scottish government is also making plans should the country vote for independence later this year and has proposed the formation of a “rural connectivity commission” that would consider how to improve issues such as mobile coverage, broadband, postal services and transport.

An independent Scotland would have to create its own broadband programmes and issue some spectrum licences, although O2 is bound by the terms of its 800MHz licence to provide a mobile broadband service to at least 95 percent of the population of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

“Our rural communities make a very valuable contribution to Scotland’s economy and have huge potential to develop even further,” adds Sturgeon.

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