Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband reaches more of Fife

More premises across Fife can now upgrade to faster fibre broadband through the £428 million Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband rollout.

Thanks to the programme, more than 890,000 premises are able to connect to the new network, with more coverage now live across the Kingdom in places including Crail, Gauldry, Kirkcaldy, Cardenden, Anstruther and Newburgh.

Each week the programme, one of the largest broadband infrastructure projects in Europe, reaches more remote and rural areas.

Across the country nearly 4,500 new fibre street cabinets are now live and more than 11,000km of cable has been laid by engineers from Openreach, Scotland’s digital network business. Fibre broadband offers fast and reliable broadband connections at speeds of up to 80Mbps¹ and there are many suppliers in the marketplace to choose from.

Local people need to sign up for the new, faster services with an internet service provider, as upgrades are not automatic.

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.

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 in every local authority area during 2018 and beyond, complementing ongoing commercial build across Scotland.

As part of the local rollout in Fife some ultrafast Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) technology is being deployed. FTTP sees fibre connected directly from the exchange to the premise and is capable of carrying speeds of up to 1Gbps². FTTP is being deployed by the programme in only a handful of areas where it is the best technical solution for the area.

Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing said: “I am pleased to see that more premises than ever before now have superfast broadband available to them. “I would encourage more people to check whether they are eligible to upgrade on the DSSB website and contact a service provider of their choice to start receiving faster broadband.

However I am not complacent – I am aware that those who do not have access are at a disadvantage and our job is not done until everyone is connected. We are now focusing on the next steps to achieve 100 per cent access to superfast broadband – the only commitment of its kind in the UK.”

Fife Council's Convener of Economy, Tourism, Strategic Planning and Transportation Committee Cllr Altany Craik said: “I am delighted that more areas across Fife can now access fibre broadband thanks to the programme and more people are now able to get a superfast speed. Whether you are downloading a box set, a small business making transactions or just keeping in touch with friends, fibre broadband can make it all happen easily."

Robert Thorburn, Fibre Broadband Director for Openreach in Scotland, said: “As the rollout nears its end stages, we’re really digging into some harder-to-reach communities and places where the engineering challenges are more significant.

“Many of these latest lines have been converted from a format once thought incompatible with high-speed fibre broadband, and we’re increasingly using ultrafast Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) to deliver the network directly into individual dwellings, with some properties in places like Letham, Buckhaven, Luthrie, Strathmiglo and Newport-on-Tay among those to benefit.

“It’s really a privilege for all of us at Openreach to be able to play such an important part in the life of local communities. We know there’s always more to do and we are up for the challenge.”

ENDS

^{1 and 2} These are the top wholesale speeds available over the Openreach networks to all service providers; speeds offered by service providers may vary.

² FTTP is capable of delivering the fastest residential broadband speeds in the UK – up to 1Gbps. That’s around 24 times the UK average speed of 44Mbps (according to Ofcom) and enough to stream 200 HD Netflix movies simultaneously, based on Netflix internet connection speed requirements.

Notes to editors:

Due to the current network topography and the economics of deployment, it is likely that not all premises within selected areas will be able to access fibre-based broadband at the same point in the roll-out.

The Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme aims to provide fibre broadband infrastructure to parts of Scotland not included in commercial providers’ investment plans, and has reached around 95 per cent of premises when combined with current commercial roll-out plans.

About BDUK

Superfast Britain is a UK Government programme of investment in broadband and communication infrastructure across the UK. Run by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, this investment helps businesses to grow, creates jobs and will make Britain more competitive in the global race. The portfolio is comprised of three elements:

£780m to extend superfast broadband to 95% of the UK by 2017

£150m to provide high speed broadband to businesses in 22 cities

£150m to improve quality and coverage of mobile phone and basic data network services

Administered on behalf of Government by Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK), Superfast Britain is transforming Britain by promoting growth, enabling skills and learning, and improving quality of life.

For further information: https://www.gov.uk/broadband-delivery-uk