Council welcomes £146 million investment in fibre broadband communications across Highlands and Islands
Council welcomes £146 million investment in fibre broadband communications across Highlands and Islands
The Highland Council has welcomed the £146 million investment project to deliver high speed fibre broadband across the Highlands and Islands announced today (26 March).
The project, led by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and delivered by BT, is being hailed as the UK’s most complex and challenging broadband project ever.
It means that around 84 per cent of Highlands and Islands homes and businesses will have access to fibre broadband by the end of the project.
Announced by Alex Paterson, HIE Chief Executive, at a contract signing with BT in Inverness the project is set to create a fibre network which will transform the area’s digital capabilities for decades to come.
Leader of The Highland Council, Councillor Drew Hendry welcomed the announcement, he said: “This is excellent news for people at home and business throughout the Highlands and Islands. The Council’s Administration fully supports the work of HIE, BT, the Scottish and UK Governments to provide Highland homes and business with broadband services fit for the 21st century. We will continue to support innovative and community-based schemes to drive delivery. We also look forward to viewing the detailed plans for each local authority area which are to be announced in due course.”
The public sector investment towards the contract is £126.4m. It is being delivered through the Scottish Government broadband fund, which incorporates funding from Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK), and also includes up to £12m from HIE’s own budget.
BT is investing an additional £19.4 million in the project, on top of its investment in its wider commercial roll-out for the region, taking the total project value to around £146 million. BDUK is responsible for increasing access to broadband on behalf of the UK Coalition Government.
The project is by far the most ambitious and challenging rural broadband rollout BT has undertaken anywhere in the UK. Deployment details for the first phase of this partnership will now be finalised and detailed plans for each local authority area will be announced in due course. Coverage levels in all seven local authority areas within the project area will represent a significant step change for fibre broadband in the Highlands and Islands.