Media Release: Faster broadband for 186,000 more Scottish homes and businesses

Latest phase of BT roll-out programme includes another 47 exchanges from Shetland to Stanraer – news welcomed by Scottish Government and Institute of Directors Scotland

BT announced today that another 186,000 homes and businesses in Scotland will have access to faster broadband by next summer.

Kirkwall, Lerwick, Oban, Hawick, Cowdenbeath, Peterhead, Invergordon, Fort William, Haddington, Maryhill, Alloway and Kelty are among 47 Scottish communities included in the latest roll-out plans for BT’s next generation broadband service delivered over copper lines.

The BT investment makes available broadband speeds of up to 20 megabits per second (Mbps) – more than double the maximum speeds previously available to the majority of UK homes and businesses.

It means that the technology will be available to more than 1.5 million homes and businesses in Scotland by next summer – equivalent to about 72 per cent of all premises.

The new next generation broadband network is available on an open, wholesale basis to all companies providing broadband services.

This investment is in addition to BT’s on-going £2.5 billion UK roll-out of super-fast fibre-based broadband, which is expected to bring even faster speeds to two-thirds of UK premises by the end of 2014.

Brendan Dick, director BT Scotland, said: “BT’s roll-out of faster broadband across Scotland is gathering pace.

“Earlier this month we announced plans to make super-fast, fibre-based broadband available to 695,500 homes and businesses by the end of next year. Now we are able to confirm a further major investment in faster broadband speeds over copper lines.

“Nobody is doing more than BT to roll-out faster broadband across Scotland. At a time of economic uncertainty these major improvements will provide a big boost for local businesses and offer many additional educational and entertainment opportunities for local households.

“And we want to go further. We want to work with the public sector to find ways of bringing faster broadband to areas which are geographically and commercially more challenging.”

Alex Neil, Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure and Investment, said: “We very much welcome this latest announcement from BT. Faster broadband is going to play a key role in Scotland’s future success. In an increasingly competitive and technological world it is vital that local businesses and households have access to high-speed sophisticated communications. Just like roads and railways, broadband is a vital part of the essential infrastructure of Scotland.”

David Watt, executive director, Institute of Directors Scotland, said: “This is more good news from BT. Faster, next generation broadband is one of the fundamental building blocks which will play a pivotal part in growing the nation’s economy. It’s great to see the faster broadband footprint spreading across Scotland and in these tough economic times it gives Scottish businesses something to look forward to in the new year.”

A full list of the exchanges being announced today for upgrade is below:

Note to editors: All forward looking plans are subject to change. However, the expectations reflected in this forward-looking plan are reasonable, but because our rollout involves risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking plans. 

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Contact: BT Scotland press office
Phone: 0800 085 0660

Website: http://www.btplc.com/news