Digital Scotland helps Peterhead to hook up
More than 2,200 homes and businesses in Peterhead can now access fibre broadband through the £463 million Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) rollout - and nearly two in three have already connected.
They’re among 86,000 homes and businesses reached by the DSSB programme in Aberdeenshire, where take-up of services across the new network now stands at more than 60 per cent.
To spread the word that fast broadband is now available to more premises in Peterhead, the Digital Scotland team visited well-known Arbuthnot Maritime Museum, which charts the town’s fishing, shipping and whaling past.
They were joined by Councillor Norman Smith and Business Development Executive Suzanne Robertson from Aberdeenshire Council.
Openreach engineers have used a mix of technologies in the town, offering residents mainly superfast and some ultrafast broadband speeds1. Local people can check what services are now available to them at https://www.scotlandsuperfast.com/
Across Aberdeenshire, the DSSB rollout has recently reached more homes in places like King Edward, St Cyrus, Fyvie, Muir of Fowlis, Portsoy and Turriff.
Some of the latest premises passed in Auchenblae and Kingswells, as well as Peterhead, can now connect to the most reliable and fastest residential broadband available1 as engineers build more full fibre networks to harder-to-reach homes.
The DSSB programme is delivered through two projects, led by Highlands and Islands Enterprise in its area and the Scottish Government in the rest of Scotland.Funding partners also include the UK Government through Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK), BT Group, local authorities and the EU via the European Regional Development Fund, with Openreach leading the build on the ground.Sara Budge, DSSB Programme Director, said: “Thanks to the £463 million programme more businesses and homes are able to access fibre broadband technology, resulting in a better online experience.
“Just remember upgrades are not automatic, so do shop around for the best deal which suits your needs at www.scotlandsuperfast.com/yourstreet.
Aberdeenshire Council’s Suzanne Robertson said: “Aberdeenshire Council is proud to have supported the roll-out of broadband connectivity across the area, contributing £16 million to the Digital Scotland programme which has now enabled more than 86,000 homes and businesses in Aberdeenshire to access fibre services.
“We are continuing to invest in improving digital connections and resilience through the City Region Deal Full Fibre programme and through our support for initiatives to bring 5G mobile services to more rural parts of Aberdeenshire. All of this supports our wider goals to make Aberdeenshire a great location for businesses to invest and thrive.”
Robert Thorburn, Partnership Director for Openreach in Scotland, added: “It’s great to visit somewhere steeped in Peterhead’s maritime past to celebrate its digital future.“The Digital Scotland rollout, coupled with commercial investment, means that the vast majority of local homes and businesses are now within reach of a fast fibre broadband service. I’d encourage residents and businesspeople to make sure they’re up to speed.
“Organisations can use better connections to increase online audiences, sell services and generate bookings while businesses can manage day-to-day operations more efficiently using cloud services.
“Take-up rates in Peterhead and across Aberdeenshire are healthy, but there’s still plenty of capacity available in the local network. People have nothing to lose by upgrading – and may have a lot to gain.”
Research has suggested that every £1 of public investment in fibre broadband in Scotland is delivering almost £12 of benefits to the Scottish economy. The independent report commissioned by DSSB and undertaken by consultants Analysys Mason estimates the total benefit from investment as £2.76 billion over 15 years.
Ends
Photo: The Digital Scotland team visited the town’s well-known Arbuthnot Maritime Museum. Pictured from left are the museum's Fiona Riddell; Aberdeenshire Council’s Suzanne Robertson; Community Officer Samantha Lindsay-Dorward; Councillor Norman Smith (Buchan Area Committee Chair); and DSSB Programme Director Sara Budge.
[1] Wholesale services are available over the Openreach network to all service providers; speeds offered by service providers may vary. FTTC (fibre-to-the-cabinet) is available at speeds of up to 80Mbps. FTTP (fibre-to-the-premises) is capable of delivering the fastest residential broadband speeds in the UK – up to 1Gbps – fast enough to download a two-hour HD movie in 25 seconds or a 45-minute HD TV programme in just five seconds.
