Highland Broadband is set to roll out a new service initially focusing on 5,000 premises in Alness, Easter Ross before the end of the year. 

A trading name of Lothian Broadband Networks Limited, the provider plans 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. 

CEO Gaving Rodgers says the company is ‘hugely excited’ to be providing broadband to the Highlands. 

After the first phase of installation in Alness, the fibre network will expand to Evanton and Invergordon, then extending north to include Ardross as well as the smaller villages on the way. 

The technology being installed, Adtran powered XGS-PON FTTP, has the capability to support up to 10GB symmetrical connectivity, currently the fastest and most reliable network being built in the UK.

Highland Broadband are also using local contractors to carry out the works, to help support local business and invest in the local supply chain.

The rural divide in the digital infrastructure of Scotland has been a concern as the nation attempts to prove itself as a tech centre on the global stage. 

The Scottish government itself has been trying to catch up in the Highlands, rolling out 4G masts to areas that are most lacking in infrastructure. 

Project Gigabit was also launched across the UK to address the gaps of connectivity plaguing different parts of the country. 

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In January the Scottish National Investment Bank committed £20 million of cornerstone funding to LBNL to help tackle digital inequality in rural communities and small towns in Scotland.

Rogers expressed his thanks to the Scottish Government and the Bank for their investment, saying: “It allows us to continue our commitment to building quality digital infrastructure and ultrafast, reliable and affordable full-fibre broadband across Scotland with this phase now taking us to rural villages and towns in the Highlands.”

The UK Government has a target of at least 85% of the population having access to gigabit (1,000 Mbps) broadband by 2025 under its National Infrastructure Strategy.

Jamie Stone, MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, commented on the importance of the infrastructure: “Improving broadband connectivity in the Highlands at pace is absolutely key to our success as a region, and I look forward to the day that every household and business in my constituency can access superfast speeds. This is an excellent start.”

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