More rural homes and businesses are set to access full-fibre broadband following a £36-million expansion of the Reaching 100% (R100) contracts.

The extension of existing contracts with Openreach will enable another 2,637 rural properties to access gigabit-capable connections through additional Scottish and UK Government investment in the R100 programme.

It will provide speeds more than 30 times faster than the Scottish Government’s original commitment and fulfil a 2021/22 Programme for Government commitment to deliver gigabit capable connections to the islands.

Contracts for both the North Lot – covering the north of Scotland and most of Scotland’s inhabited islands – and South Lot – covering Dumfries and Galloway, Scottish Borders and stretching from East Lothian and East Ayrshire – are being extended through the new investment.

The UK Government’s Project Gigabit will fund £16m of this additional investment, which will be split between the R100 North and South contracts. The Scottish Government will invest a further £20m in the North contract to help fund the gap between the cost of delivery and the contribution from Project Gigabit.

Project Gigabit is the UK Government’s £5-billion programme to deliver lightning-fast, reliable broadband in hard-to-reach areas across the UK.

Scottish Business Minister Ivan McKee said: “This latest investment will connect more homes and businesses in Scotland’s rural and island communities to gigabit capable broadband. That will have far reaching economic, social and development impacts.

“Our R100 programme is going further, and providing faster broadband, than originally envisaged. This takes time and significant investment, but we are fully committed to ensuring that as many people as possible are able to enjoy the important advantages of this future-proofed digital infrastructure.”

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Openreach Scotland Partnership Director Robert Thorburn added: “The R100 build is once in a generation, bringing the fastest, most reliable technology to our most remote residents. Full fibre is future-proof – so the new network will always meet the nation’s needs.

“Connecting these properties one by one is one of the biggest broadband challenges in Europe. To make the most efficient use of resources, we’ll align the R100 build with our own rural investment. This will help us to get engineers and equipment to the most remote places, where they’re needed.

“We’ll continue to explore every option to reach more rural homes, faster.”

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