Around 63,000 more premises in the North East of Scotland will be able to access gigabit-capable broadband following the award of a contract to deliver the Project Gigabit rollout in the area.

The £105 million contract, funded by the UK Government and procured and delivered by the Scottish Government, has been awarded to GoFibre.

The roll-out will benefit some of the most rural areas in Aberdeenshire, Aberdeen City, Angus, Dundee, Moray, Highland and parts of Perth and Kinross. It will reach locations including Forfar, Glamis and Brechin, to Cullen, Forres and as far west as Castle Stuart near Inverness Airport.

The first connections are due to be delivered by Summer 2026.

The contract is the third to be awarded as part of the Project Gigabit programme in Scotland. It follows a £25 million contract being awarded to GoFibre to benefit around 11,000 premises in the Scottish Borders and East Lothian and a £157 million contract awarded to Openreach to provide access to more than 65,000 premises in the Highlands and Outer Hebrides, together with some of the most hard-to-reach areas across the country.

Recommended reading

• Ofcom Launches Mobile Coverage Checker
• Scots Gov Exceeded Broadband Connection Target Last Year
• New UK Deal to Eliminate Mobile Blackspots on Busy Rail Routes

Business Minister Richard Lochhead said:    “Fast, reliable broadband is a fundamental building block for Scotland’s economy – and for our society. It’s why we are committed to ensuring connections across the country meet the needs of people and businesses, delivering faster connections to more than a million premises over the last decade.

“Project Gigabit will build on and complement the transformational work already being delivered through the Scottish Government’s Reaching 100% programme and I look forward to working with the UK Government, as broadband remains a reserved matter, to ensure we deliver more gigabit-capable connections to rural communities.”