In a significant development for Scotland’s digital infrastructure, the Scottish Government and Building Digital UK (BDUK) have announced plans to publish the first official contract notice for the Project Gigabit broadband rollout scheme in Scotland. 

The move, set to commence this month, marks a significant step in reaching 1Gbps speeds across rural areas of Scotland, with £450 million already earmarked for the project. 

As it stands, about one quarter (26%) of premises in Scotland currently do not have access to gigabit-capable broadband. The existing £600m R100 project led by the Scottish Government aims to extend full fibre networks to an additional 114,000 premises by 2027/28, to which it has already covered around 37,000.

Despite these efforts, a recent projection by Ofcom suggests that Scotland’s full fibre coverage may reach only 78-83% by May 2026, leaving a notable gap for rural areas. Recognizing this, the BDUK agency estimates that around 410,000 premises across Scotland may require public funding support to access gigabit broadband services.

The latest development in the Project Gigabit programme, uncovered by ISPreview, indicates that BDUK and the Scottish Government have been actively engaging with suppliers to facilitate procurement. Initial findings suggest potential interest in one large regional procurement and five smaller local procurements, with the first local procurement set to cover the Borders and East Lothian areas.

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Managed through BDUK’s Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS), the Borders and East Lothian procurement is expected to launch by the end of March 2024. Subsequently, a regional procurement encompassing Dundee, Aberdeenshire, Angus, and the Moray Coast is anticipated in the coming months, with an estimated publication date of April 30, 2024.

With Scotland’s involvement in Project Gigabit poised to enter the procurement stage after years of anticipation, the road ahead entails a meticulous process. It may take around a year before the first contracts are awarded, and completion of the rollout is expected to extend over several years, potentially reaching completion around 2030 due to the rural nature of the program.