The Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) Programme has ensured 99.5% of homes and businesses in North Ayrshire now have access to fibre-enabled broadband.
Over 64.7% of those reached by the DSSB rollout across North Ayrshire have now upgraded and are enjoying faster fibre broadband.
More than 21,600 households and businesses across North Ayrshire were reached by this £463 million project.
Engineers from BT Openreach laid more than 233km of cable across North Ayrshire during the build, connecting communities from Beith to rural Arran.
Today, as it draws to a close, the huge civil engineering project was hailed as being central to tackling the exceptional national challenges imposed by the pandemic.
Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise Ivan McKee MSP said:
“The way we work and live our lives has changed dramatically in the past year, and by providing decent, reliable broadband the DSSB programme has helped many people to work, learn and stay in touch with family and friends from their own homes.”
“Across the country more than 97% of homes and businesses now have access to fibre-based broadband and the transformative benefits for work and social life it offers.”
The programme’s target to bring fibre-based broadband services to 95% of Scottish homes was completed on track at the end of 2017. However, thanks to efficiencies and reinvestment driven by strong take-up, the build continued into 2020, benefiting thousands of additional households and businesses.
Kenneth Gibson MSP said:
“This tremendous progress is benefitting both businesses and households across North Ayrshire – particularly as more people will continue to work from home than before the pandemic.
“The SNP Government is now concentrating on delivering the £600 million ‘Reaching 100%’ programme, of which it is funding which is the biggest public investment ever made in a single UK broadband project.
“Although broadband is reserved, given the Tory Government’s failure to act, the SNP Government is paying 97% of the cost of this programme through a massive £579 million investment.”
“This will make sure every single premise in Scotland can access a speeds of at least 30Mbps by the end of 2021.”
Fibre technology offers fast and reliable connections at a range of speeds and there are many suppliers in the marketplace to choose from.
Please check if the new fibre services are available to you at www.scotlandsuperfast.com/yourstreet.
ENDS
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