Eight more Scottish locations will soon benefit from a major broadband boost thanks to £16.2 million Openreach broadband funding.

Another 54,000 homes and businesses are included in the latest ultrafast full fibre upgrade, with the new network to be built to most premises in Stirling and Bridge of Allan; Kirkcaldy, Dysart, and North Glenrothes in Fife; Carnoustie and Monifieth in Angus; and Gourock in Inverclyde.

It was announced last year that around a million more Scottish homes and businesses were set to be given access to the Openreach’s gigabit-capable network, including 300,000 in rural and harder to serve areas.

The build has now passed more than 530,000 properties across Scotland, including 20,000 business premises, in places like Aviemore, Aberdeen and Ardrossan.

Commenting on the news, Scottish Government Economy Secretary Kate Forbes said: “This is great news for Scotland. Commercial build continues to play a crucial role in helping ensure homes and businesses across the country can access fast, reliable, future-proofed broadband connectivity.

“Bringing full fibre broadband to more urban and rural communities will help protect livelihoods and ensure people remain connected while we continue to recover from the effects of the global pandemic.

“With 54,000 more premises set to benefit from gigabit capable speeds, I look forward to seeing where Openreach goes to next.”

In a major boost to Scottish homes, full-fibre broadband is up to ten times faster than average connections, and around five times more reliable than the traditional copper-based network, providing more predictable, consistent speeds.

Across the country, 124,000 homes and businesses have already ordered a full fibre service, but another 406,000 could be benefiting but still not upgraded, Openreach said.

Research by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) highlighted the clear economic benefits of connecting everyone in Scotland to full fibre, estimating it would create a £4.6 billion boost to the local economy.

Recommended

• Scots-American startup Scrapp wins business prize package
• Applications open to Scottish startups for fully funded trip to Silicon Valley
• Napier researchers launch new ransomware detection resource

Dr Liz Cameron CBE, Director and Chief Executive of Scottish Chambers of Commerce, added: “This is a great investment and roll-out by Openreach.

“Expanding gigabit-capable full fibre broadband to more businesses, homes and locations is exactly the type of infrastructure investment Scotland needs.

“Digital connectivity is embedded into every aspect of our lives, more so now than ever before, and this latest milestone means more communities will be able to access faster, reliable and more consistent speeds.”

Openreach said its engineers had been “working hard” to make the technology available to as many people as possible, and the company’s plans are “fundamental” to UK and Scottish Government targets.

As well as the latest Openreach broadband funding, the firm claimed it would be investing billions of pounds to reach around 25m UK premises by the end of December 2026, including more than six million in the hardest-to-serve parts of the UK.