THE SNP’s beleaguered £600m plan to give every home and office access to superfast broadband has been hit by a further delay caused by a legal challenge.
The Scottish Government today confirmed it had finally signed off two of the three regional contracts for the R100 programme, but a legal challenge was holding up the third.
The area affected is the north of Scotland, which accounts for the bulk of the R100 scheme.
It involves around 99,288 premises and is worth around £384m.
The problem was revealed in a written parliamentary answer issued on the last day of Holyrood term before the Christmas break by connectivity minister Paul Wheelhouse.
He said the government this week signed contracts to connect premises in south and central Scotland with BT plc, the sole bidder for the work.
However the contract for the north of Scotland, where BT plc was the preferred bidder, had not been signed as planned.
He said: “We had intended to finalise governance and sign this contract in the coming weeks.
“However, I can confirm that this award is now subject to a legal challenge from Gigaclear Ltd, which the Scottish Government is currently considering and seeking advice on.
“This will include consideration of the potential impact on the North lot and I will update Parliament as soon as I have more information.
“This development does not impact the Central and South lots.”
LibDem MSP Mike Rumbles said: "The Scottish Government has wasted nearly four years deciding which companies will deliver its 2016 election promise to provide 100% superfast broadband coverage by 2021. Work has not even begun and the programme is already plagued with poor decisions and oversight.
“This is no excuse for any delay to R100. Ministers had a responsibility to thrash out all of these problems back in 2016. Clearly that work was not done.
“There is no end in sight for the R100 programme or for the thousands of homes in rural and remote communities that have been left behind in the race to improve our digital infrastructure.”
Gigaclear, based in Oxford, was one of several firms which expressed an interest in the procurement exercise for the scheme, which began in 2017.
Earlier this month, the Herald revealed the R100 scheme could be delivered three years late.
In the SNP’s 2016 Holyrood manifesto, Nicola Sturgeon promised to “deliver 100 per cent superfast broadband coverage for Scotland by the end of the next Parliament”.
This is defined as access to speeds of at least 30 megabits per second.
Around 6 per cent of premises in Scotland are still without such access, most in rural areas.
Initially set for spring 2021, the target slater slipped to the end of 2021.
READ MORE: SNP Government admits it may break £600m broadband pledge
However a recent Scottish Government procurement document said the timeframe for delivering the R100 programme was now “over the next four years”, taking it to 2023.
But it also says the “deployment tranche” could last another year, taking it to 2024.
The delays have put a question mark over the future of Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing, who last year promised to resign if the R100 target date of 2021 was missed.
“If I don’t deliver this by 2021, I think it will be time for Fergus Ewing to depart and do something else, and leave the job to somebody else.
“But I can assure you, we’re on the case,” he told the Scottish Land and Estates conference.
READ MORE: Superfast internet three years late
Under the Scotland Act 1998, the legal and regulatory responsibility for telecoms in the UK rests solely with the UK Parliament and UK Ministers.
However the Scottish Government is attempting to use economic development powers to subsidise broadband delivery through R100.
No other part of the UK has matched this commitment by the Scottish Government.
Despite the multiple delays to the R10), the Scottish Government has repeatedly refused to say when it now believes it will be delivered, but has admitted 2021 will be challenging.
Gigaclear Ltd declined to comment.
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