Plans for Scotland's high fibre diet

Scottish politicians will quiz engineers from Openreach about Scotland’s digital future during a drop-in session at the Scottish Parliament today (Thursday).

They’ll hear about the work being done to upgrade the country’s broadband network and how politicians can help industry investors to speed up the build.

According to thinkbroadband, the UK's largest independent broadband news and information site, nearly 94 per cent of Scots can currently access superfast broadband at 30Mbps+.

However, the focus is now shifting to ‘ultrafast’ full fibre, as the copper network reaches the end of its life. Full fibre deployment is already under way in Edinburgh, Greater Glasgow, West Lothian and Kilmarnock as part of Openreach’s Fibre First programme. Today it was announced that Aberdeen, Ayr (South Ayrshire) and Stanecastle (Irvine, North Ayrshire) will be the next locations to benefit.

The Holyrood event will be hosted by Brendan Dick, chair of the Openreach Board in Scotland, who said: “We can’t build a new full fibre network for Scotland without support from our public sector partners. It won’t be quick or easy, but action to reduce red tape and remove barriers will speed things up.

“The Scottish Government has already reduced the tax on fibre infrastructure but we also need to make street works and getting access to land and blocks of flats simpler and mandate full fibre for all new housing developments, which we think is a no-brainer.

“But this is not simply about putting wires into the ground. It’s about what full fibre technology can do for Scotland, helping to answer long term challenges like energy use, climate change and sustainable rural communities.”

More than 2.6m Scottish households and businesses can connect to Openreach’s digital network through their service provider – including household names like BT, Sky and TalkTalk.

Event sponsor Bruce Crawford MSP said: “Scotland’s at the start of a digital journey from old copper cables to full fibre technology, where the fibre doesn’t stop at the street cabinet but goes all the way to the home. It’s more resilient and future-proof as well as faster – with fibre optic cables as thin as a hair able to deliver gigabit speeds.

“Today’s event will be an opportunity to learn what that will mean for local people, businesses and future public services like education, healthcare, transport, energy, water and housing. Good connectivity supports productivity and economic growth but also brings really valuable new opportunities for sustainable communities.”

MSPs and researchers attending the drop-in event will also get to connect tiny glass fibres used to transmit data at the speed of light and chat to some of the 220 new apprentices taken on by Openreach in Scotland this year. The company is building on its biggest ever recruitment of 400 new engineers last year, joining its 3,200-strong Scottish workforce.

It has invested more than £500,000 in fibre training centres in Livingston and Dundee to make sure engineers have the right skills to deliver the new full fibre network. Openreach is the UK’s leading full fibre builder, with plans to reach four million homes by March 2021.

ENDS

Notes to editors

FTTP is capable of delivering the fastest residential broadband speeds in the UK – up to 1Gbps – that’s around 18.5 times the UK average speed (according to Ofcom) and enough to stream 200 HD Netflix movies simultaneously, based on Netflix internet connection speed requirements. Wholesale speeds are available from Openreach to all service providers; speeds offered by service providers, and attainable over individual lines, may vary.

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