Residents in a Dumfriesshire internet blackspot now have access to gigabit broadband after new funding from the Reaching 100% (R100) Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (SBVS).

The digital upgrade of 57 properties has now been completed in Mouswald, giving residents access to gigabit-capable broadband after years of patchy and slow connections.

It’s the first and largest of seven community projects being delivered by Openreach this year using SBVS – the smallest, for just 10 households, is in Glenfarg, Perth and Kinross. The company expects to complete work on a further 13 projects using SBVS funding during 2023.

The new available speeds in the small settlement mean that current residents have the option to work from home, make video calls, and use multiple devices at once, none of which was possible prior to the upgrade.

The area is also set to benefit from the Scottish Government’s Reaching 100% build programme, with Openreach continuing work to bring ultrafast full fibre to some further outlying properties next year.

Business Minister Ivan McKee said: “This is great news for the community in Mouswald who have worked hard with Openreach to deliver a gigabit capable service using the Scottish Government’s R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme.

“This new network will benefit all the connected residents and businesses enabling them to work, learn, and stream online at speeds multiple times faster than before.

“I would encourage other communities, businesses or individual households that need faster broadband to consider the R100 SBVS as a potential solution, which has already delivered more than 2,600 new connections across Scotland.”

Full fibre broadband offers download speeds of up to one gigabit per second (1Gbps), which means it’s up to 10 times faster than the average home broadband connection, bringing quicker downloads, better quality video calls, and higher resolution gaming and movie streaming.

Robert Thorburn, partnership director for Openreach Scotland, said: “While many households in Mouswald were upgraded in previous investment cycles, these 57 properties missed out. It’s been a long path for the affected residents, but they never gave up.

“We were determined to find an answer for them, and the Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme provided the additional funding needed to let us go ahead with a full fibre build.”

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He added: “The upgrade delivers ultra-reliable, fast and future-proof broadband links. We’re thrilled that these households finally have access to brilliant broadband – and we plan to build even more full fibre locally under the R100 programme.”

The Mouswald broadband upgrade comes after news last week that Highland Broadband will be rolling out a new service initially focusing on 5,000 premises in Alness, Easter Ross before the end of the year.

The plan is to invest £75 million to connect over 70,000 premises in rural communities and small towns to digitally transform connectivity in Scotland over the next four years.

The Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) estimates that connecting everyone in Scotland to full fibre broadband would create a £4.5 billion boost to the economy.

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