More than 1,200 homes and businesses in Stranraer are now able to connect to high-speed fibre broadband thanks to the £428M Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme.
Mandy Green and her team from RNLI Park Fest, which took place last weekend, joined Councillor Andrew Giusti and the Digital Scotland team to celebrate the latest fibre availability in the Dumfries and Galloway town – and unveil one of the new high-speed street cabinets.
The latest premises are among around 780,000 homes and businesses across Scotland which are now able to access fibre broadband through Digital Scotland rollout.
Other areas in Dumfries and Galloway to benefit recently from the Digital Scotland rollout, led by the Scottish Government, include Portpatrick, Drummore, Bankshill, Dalbeattie, Glencaple, Kirkcowan, Port William and parts of Newton Stewart. More local coverage will follow as engineers from Openreach – Scotland’s digital network business – continue work on the ground.
Local people can check the Digital Scotland website – scotlandsuperfast.com – to find out if they are able to access the latest fibre broadband technology. People need to sign up with an internet service provider, as upgrades are not automatic.
Mandy from Park Fest said: “It was a pleasure to join the Digital Scotland team to celebrate the availability of fibre broadband in Stranraer. It’s good to see this project reaching more communities and giving an increasing number of homes and businesses the chance to connect to high-speed broadband.
“Park Fest is a little festival with a big heart and is held annually on the third weekend in August. This weekend we will be joined by various bands in order to support the ‘RNLI Inshore Lifeboat’ in Stranraer.”
Rob Davidson, Chair of Dumfries and Galloway Council’s Policy and Resources committee, said: “Superfast fibre broadband will benefit both local residents and businesses. Broadband is an essential part of Dumfries and Galloway’s present and future. It’s vital that we embrace this latest generation of technology in order for our local economy to remain competitive.
“Better, faster communications boost businesses, helping them grow and create more jobs. What’s more, local residents can enjoy faster browsing and downloading at home. This is great news for Stranraer and we are determined to make sure everyone in Dumfries and Galloway has access to digital services and the skills and confidence to go online and use them.”
Fibre broadband offers fast and reliable broadband connections at speeds of up to 80Mbps* and there are many suppliers in the marketplace to choose from. Across Dumfries and Galloway, more than 46,000 homes and businesses can now benefit from fibre broadband through the Digital Scotland rollout.
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 and get better, faster access to online services.
Sara Budge, Programme Director for Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband, said: “It’s fantastic news that the programme has been able to launch more fibre broadband to benefit residents and businesses in and around Stranraer.
“I would like to thank Mandy and Andrew for joining us this week to unveil the fibre street cabinet and helping us spread the word.”
Digital Scotland funding partners include the Scottish Government, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, BT, the UK Government through Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK), local authorities and the European Regional Development Fund. BT is investing £126 million in the rollout, and the total project value includes around £18 million which is being reinvested back in to the programme as a result of stronger than expected early take-up.
Robert Thorburn, Openreach client director for Scotland, said: “Thousands of people across Dumfries and Galloway now have the opportunity to access their best ever broadband speeds when they sign up with a service provider. There’s lots of competition out there, and people may find they could be surfing at much higher speeds at a similar cost to their current service. With a high level of fibre coverage now available in Stranraer, we’d encourage everyone to check.”
Further information is also available on Twitter @ScotSuperfast or Facebook
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