More premises across Dumfries and Galloway can now upgrade to faster fibre broadband through the £428 million Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband rollout.
Thanks to the programme, more premises in more remote areas are now able to connect and Digital Scotland take up rates in Dumfries and Galloway currently stand at 41%. This still means thousands of people could be benefitting but aren’t.
The rollout has now reached Auchenmalg and Kettleholm for the first time, while additional upgrades have also gone live in Canonbie, Carrutherstown, Castle Douglas, Dumfries, Langholm, Newton Stewart and Thornhill. The Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband ‘Up your Street’ campaign visited Annan, Powfoot and Dumfries as well as Kirkcudbright and Lockerbie to encourage more residents to sign up to fibre broadband and enjoy its many benefits.
The campaign features a branded ad van which is on tour across Scotland spreading the good news. Representatives from the programme met Lisa McVey from the Powfoot Hotel to celebrate.
Across Scotland, over 95% of homes and business can benefit from the Digital Scotland rollout, and including commercial coverage approximately 93% are estimated to be capable of accessing superfast speed of 30Mbps or more. Upgrades are ongoing, with Openreach engineers continuing work on the ground during 2019.
One of the key messages for the ‘Up your Street’ campaign is that people need to sign up for the new, faster services with an internet service provider of their choice as upgrades are not automatic.
Some of the latest local properties to benefit from access to fibre – including several in the Auchencairn, Creetown, Kirkpatrick Fleming and Glencaple exchange areas – can now connect to the most reliable and fastest residential broadband available as engineers build more full-fibre connections to help harder-to-reach homes join the digital revolution.
Future-proof FTTP (Fibre-to-the-Premises) is capable of delivering the fastest residential broadband speeds in the UK – up to 1Gbps* – about 22 times faster than the current UK average of 46Mbps.
The Digital Scotland rollout is delivered through two projects – led by Highlands and Islands Enterprise in its area and the Scottish Government in the rest of Scotland. Other funding partners include the UK Government through Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK), BT Group, local authorities and the EU via the European Regional Development Fund.
Whether you own a business, work from home or want to keep in touch with friends and family, fibre broadband enables multiple users to connect to the internet at high speeds. Most of the Digital Scotland deployment uses Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC) technology, at speeds of up to 80Mbps*.
Crucially, thanks to additional investment as a result of innovation and new funding generated by stronger than expected take-up, the programme will deliver new DSSB deployment during 2019, complementing ongoing commercial build across Scotland.
Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity Michael Matheson said: “Fast and reliable internet is absolutely vital to communities across Scotland. It helps businesses stay connected with customers and colleagues, and helps families learn, work, play and shop.
“Across Scotland the vast majority of people are able to benefit from fibre broadband however they do need to upgrade their current service.
“Meanwhile our Reaching 100% programme, backed by an initial £600 million investment, plans to deliver superfast broadband access to every home and business in Scotland – the only part of the UK to do so.”
UK Digital Minister Margot James said: “Our rollout of faster broadband across the UK is reaching thousands more homes and businesses every week. Scottish residents and businesses can now reap the clear benefits that faster broadband provides and I would urge people to visit their local project website or the DCMS postcode checker to see if they can get connected.
To support our ambition for UK-wide full fibre by 2033, the UK Government has allocated up to £700m on full fibre roll out across the UK until the end of 2021.”
Robert Thorburn, Openreach partnership director for Scotland, said: “Fast, reliable broadband is really important to people in every part of Scotland so it’s great to be part of bringing better connectivity to places like Glass and Feughside. Our growing workforce is out and about in local communities every day, connecting more people.
“Bringing high-speed internet connectivity to rural Scotland is universally acknowledged as one of the hardest builds in Europe. We’re proud of our track record in the Digital Scotland rollout, reaching thousands more homes than asked of us on time and under budget.
“We’ve been working hard on challenges like how to build efficient, full-fibre networks in rural locations, which have now reached some premises in areas like Kettleholm. There’s more to do – and Scotland can depend on our engineers to get on with the job.”
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