YOUR recent editorial made no real mention of the progress being made on the rollout of high-speed broadband in rural Scotland (“Broadband postal lottery that hinders the hinterland”, The Herald, September 5).
The Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme is developing a high-speed fibre network which is changing the face of broadband and helping fulfil the Scottish Government’s commitment to deliver world class connectivity in Scotland by 2020.
Today, the UK has better fibre broadband coverage and lower prices than any other major European economy. Nearly 1.8 million homes and businesses in Scotland now have access – and the number is continuing to grow rapidly. On average, each week, thanks to the programme, a further 7,000 homes and business have fibre available to them.
The Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband partnership is due to reach more than 750,000 largely rural premises by March 2018 and more than half of these have been passed already, just over a year into the deployment. By any standards this is rapid progress for one of the largest civil engineering projects taking place anywhere in Europe.
Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband wholeheartedly agrees that digital links are just as important as other “real-world ”infrastructure. That is why we are collectively investing hundreds of millions of pounds in Scotland’s digital future.
Sara Budge
Programme Director,
Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband
5 Atlantic Quay, 150 Broomielaw, Glasgow.
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