Lothian Broadband Group (LBG) has gained £20 million from the Scottish National Investment Bank to help combat rural digital inequality in Scotland.

The money comes in addition to £5m of new investment shared by the firm’s shareholders and is part of LBG’s plans to invest £75m to connect over 70k premises over the next four years.

LBG is already investing to deliver full-fibre broadband across East Lothian, with this latest announcement signalling an expansion of geographic scope.

The newly secured funding will help the company to drive further operational scale-ups and accelerate fibre deployment over the next 12 months.

Gavin Rodgers, CEO of Lothian Broadband said: “The backing of the Scottish National Investment Bank enables us to continue our rapid scale-up as we establish the leading fibre-to-the-premise deployment platform for rural communities and small towns across Scotland.

“This new investment supports LBG’s commitment to building quality digital infrastructure and our inclusive, community-based approach to every village and town we serve.”

Covid-19 has had a massive impact on Scotland’s rural communities, with digital inequality being heightened over the last two years.

The Bank said it would be supporting a “strong and experienced management team” to roll out a future-proofed broadband network to tens of thousands of households and businesses who would otherwise be waiting years before receiving a Gigabit-capable broadband service.

The Investment Bank stated that one of its three key missions is to “extend the equality of opportunity by improving places”. The investment with LBG will help increase digital connectivity to under serviced communities, the Bank said.

As well as combatting digital inequality across communities and connecting people in hard-to-reach areas of Scotland, a strong rural digital economy can also help reduce car journeys and assist the transition to net zero by 2045.

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Commenting on the news, Eilidh Mactaggart, CEO of the Scottish National Investment Bank, said: “The Bank’s investment provides the cornerstone funding required for LBG to rapidly accelerate its operational scale-up and fibre deployment in 2022.

“This investment will support the improvement of digital connectivity in rural and semi-rural areas of Scotland, helping to address inequality of access to digital infrastructure outside of our cities and major towns.”

The Bank’s investment supports UK and Scottish government commitments to high-speed broadband access. The UK Government has a target of at least 85% of the population having access to gigabit broadband by 2025 under its National Infrastructure Strategy.

LBG’s latest investment comes after previous Scottish Government initiatives to reach people living in rural areas of the country, including its ‘Reaching 100%’ programme and broadband vouchers scheme.

In August 2020, the government announced plans to help remote areas to attain solid broadband connections through a voucher system.

The government’s plan through the Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme was to have 100% coverage in Scotland by the end of 2021.

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