24
May
2018
|
11:00
Europe/Amsterdam

Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband reaches more of Glasgow

Summary

To help promote the fact that fibre broadband is widely available in Glasgow, the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband team were out and about in Maryhill this week to continue their ‘Up your Street’ campaign. More than 88,000 homes and businesses across Glasgow can now upgrade to faster fibre broadband through the £428 million rollout.

 

To help promote the fact that fibre broadband is widely available in Glasgow, the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband team were out and about in Maryhill this week to continue their ‘Up your Street’ campaign.

The van stopped off at Maryhill Burgh Hall before heading around the city.

More than 88,000 homes and businesses across Glasgow can now upgrade to faster fibre broadband through the £428 million Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband rollout. Local people need to sign up for the new, faster services with an internet service provider, as upgrades are not automatic.

Across Scotland, more than 890,000 premises are able to connect to the new network thanks to the Digital Scotland rollout. Areas in Glasgow to benefit from the programme, led by the Scottish Government, include Govan, Castlemilk, Cranhill and Garnethill.

More local coverage will follow as engineers from Openreach – Scotland’s digital network business – continue work on the ground.

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. 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.

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 into 2019, complementing ongoing commercial build across Scotland.

Councillor Angus Millar, Chair of the Digital Glasgow Board, said: “I am delighted that areas across Glasgow can access fibre broadband thanks to the programme and more people are now able to get a superfast speed. Whether you are developing a small business, downloading a box set, 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 reaching some places, even in urban locations, where the engineering challenges are more significant. We’re increasingly using ultrafast Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) to deliver the network directly into some individual dwellings, including in places like Govan.

“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 These are the top wholesale speeds available over the Openreach networks to all service providers; speeds offered by service providers may vary.

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