Superfast broadband rolled out across East Ren

Work is already under way and will be complete by December 2018, allowing 97.2 per cent of East Renfrewshire access to fibre broadband. The expansion is thanks to the early success of the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) project.

Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Constitution Derek Mackay has announced that an additional £15.6 million is being invested.

He said: “Thanks to the success of the DSSB programme, I am delighted that more premises than originally planned in East Renfrewshire will now have the opportunity to benefit from reliable broadband. We’re already looking at how we reach further and ensure we can get superfast speeds to all. This will include areas not yet reached, as well as those who are part of the network but too far from the current cabinets to have achieved superfast speeds.”

Robert Thorburn, BT Scotland’s Fibre Broadband director, said: “We are proud of the Digital Scotland rollout – a massive infrastructure project that’s being delivered on time and on budget and provides a vital digital network for Scotland for generations to come. It’s built in to the contract that strong take-up levels trigger the release of funds for reinvestment back into the network, and BT has chosen to release these funds early so we can go further.