£36m broadband boost for R100 project to bring faster speeds to rural Highlands and Islands
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Contracts to deliver high-speed broadband to rural homes in the north of Scotland are being extended after a further £36 million investment.
The R100 programme is aimed at bringing gigabit-capable connections to homes that are harder to reach but the project has been plagued by delays.
However, a new injection of cash from the Scottish and UK governments will see a further 2637 rural properties across the country given access to the new technology.
The Scottish Government says it will provide households with speeds more than 30 times faster than its original commitment as well as delivering the new connections to the islands.
Contracts for both the North Lot – covering the north of Scotland and most of Scotland’s inhabited islands – and South Lot – covering Dumfries and Galloway, Scottish Borders and stretching from East Lothian and East Ayrshire – are being extended with the new investment.
The UK government’s Project Gigabit will fund £16 million of this additional investment, which will be split between the R100 North and South contracts. The Scottish Government will invest a further £20 million in the North contract to help fund the gap between the cost of delivery and the contribution from Project Gigabit.
Business minister Ivan McKee said: “This latest investment will connect more homes and businesses in Scotland’s rural and island communities to gigabit capable broadband. That will have far reaching economic, social and development impacts.
“Our R100 programme is going further, and providing faster broadband, than originally envisaged. This takes time and significant investment, but we are fully committed to ensuring that as many people as possible are able to enjoy the important advantages of this future-proofed digital infrastructure.”
The R100 North Lot contract extension covers an additional 1488 premises on the mainland, as well as in the Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland.
Digital infrastructure minister for the UK government Matt Warman said: "Bringing lightning-fast and reliable broadband to hard-to-reach areas is at the heart of the UK government's mission to level up communities, and that's exactly what we're doing in Scotland with our additional £16 million investment in R100.
"We've already delivered faster broadband to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses across Scotland and there is even more investment on the way thanks to Project Gigabit, our record £5 billion programme to bring growth and prosperity to rural areas by putting them in the digital fast lane."
Openreach Scotland partnership director Robert Thorburn said: “The R100 build is once in a generation, bringing the fastest, most reliable technology to our most remote residents. Full fibre is future-proof – so the new network will always meet the nation’s needs.
“Connecting these properties one by one is one of the biggest broadband challenges in Europe. To make the most efficient use of resources, we’ll align the R100 build with our own rural investment. This will help us to get engineers and equipment to the most remote places, where they’re needed.
“We’ll continue to explore every option to reach more rural homes, faster.”
