Digital upgrades live in Scottish Borders

R100 build 02

Around 4,400 households and businesses in the Scottish Borders can now connect to better broadband speeds through the Scottish Government’s £600m Reaching 100% programme – and more are set to benefit from upgrades.

Full fibre technology is now available to 40,000 of Scotland’s hardest to connect properties, with the R100 rollout reaching homes in places like Lauder, Morebattle, Smailholm and Westruther recently (a full list is at the end of this release).

Openreach engineers and their build partners are continuing work on the ground, with more addresses in Denholm, Earlston and Whitsome among those next in line for upgrades to the ultra-fast and reliable connections.

Full fibre broadband is more than 30 times faster than the Scottish Government’s original commitment to make superfast services available to homes and businesses with existing connections of less than 30 Megabits per second (Mbps).

People can check if the rollout has reached their address yet and register for updates at www.openreach.co.uk/ultrafastfullfibre. Registrations help Openreach to plan the best way to meet the level of demand in each community. Once full fibre is available, people can arrange for their service to be upgraded through their chosen provider.

Scottish Government Innovation Minister Richard Lochhead said: “It’s hugely important for homes and businesses to benefit from a full fibre upgrade in places such as Stichill and Yetholm.

“The R100 contracts are delivering future-proofed digital infrastructure that will underpin economic growth and enhance the economic prospects of communities across Scotland, for decades to come.

“Digital connectivity is transforming how we live our lives. It connects us in new and different ways, improving public services and helping businesses develop new products and reduce costs.”

Full fibre broadband provides more reliable, resilient and future-proof connections; with fewer faults; consistent speeds and enough capacity to meet ever-growing data demands across multiple devices. 

It’s great for everything people do online at home, including data-hungry streaming of movies, sport and TV and online gaming. For businesses, an ultra-reliable connection can help with the big things, like productivity, efficiency and security, as well as day-to-day basics like video calls, cloud applications, online banking and customer experience. 

Robert Thorburn, Openreach partnership director for Scotland, said: “The R100 programme is bringing fast, reliable broadband to the hardest-to-reach places in Scotland, with lots of new work starting in the weeks and months ahead.

“We’re working closely with Scottish Borders Council and our build partners to plan and deliver this huge civil undertaking with the least possible disruption to residents.

“It’s a complex build and our engineers and operatives may need to install new poles or ducts and cables to reach some households, so we want local people to be aware of the important work they’re doing.

“It’s a once-in-a-generation build which will give Scotland’s least connected premises access to the best, most reliable broadband around.”

ENDS

Notes to editors:

R100- delivered full fibre broadband has recently become available to selected households and properties in the following places in Scottish Borders:

More than £600m is being invested in the Scottish Government’s Reaching 100% (R100) programme, which consists of the R100 contracts delivered by Openreach, the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme and ongoing commercial coverage.

Build information included in this news release reflects plans at the time of publication. As with any major national engineering programme, some changes may occur where we encounter unforeseen obstacles.