Media Release: BT unveils super-fast broadband plans for thousands more Scots

25 communities from Ayrshire to Moray included in BT’s roll-out of high-speed fibre broadband; ‘fibre broadband plays key role in enhancing digital offering’ – Scottish Government

BT today announced a major expansion of high-speed fibre broadband in Scotland, which is expected to help create jobs and give a big boost to the local economy.

A further 291,000 homes and businesses across the country are to be included in BT’s £2.5 billion commercial roll-out of fibre broadband in the UK.

The total includes 25 new Scottish communities – such as Ellon, Forres, Blairgowrie, Lochgelly, Coatbridge and East Kilbride – which will be upgraded by the end of Spring 2014. A full list of the new locations is below.

The expansion also includes a substantial investment in making fibre broadband more widely available in areas which already have the high-speed technology or are due to receive it.

Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Investment and Cities, Nicola Sturgeon, said: “I very much welcome this latest announcement from BT. It is essential that households and businesses everywhere in Scotland have access to high-speed connectivity and fibre broadband will play a key role in enhancing our digital offering.

“The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that a world class digital infrastructure is in place across Scotland by 2020 and that a significant increase in coverage has been achieved by 2015. This investment, along with significant investment by the public sector, will ensure that this ambition is achieved.”

Today’s announcement will take the total number of premises with access to fibre broadband in Scotland to around 1.45 million. Around half a million are already able to get the service – and BT is keen to bring more communities within reach by working with the public sector.

Brendan Dick, BT Scotland director, said: “This latest investment is a major vote of confidence in Scotland’s future success. It will be a key part of our economic revival as we finally shrug off the effects of the downturn and create a better, more prosperous future.

“Fast, sophisticated communications are the cornerstone of a successful community, helping local people to build their skills and knowledge and encouraging the creation of new businesses and jobs. This exciting technology will transform on-line education, training and leisure for households and enhance the competitiveness of local firms.

“BT has now announced plans to make fibre broadband available to around 1.45 million Scottish homes and businesses. Reaching that target will be a substantial achievement, but we want to go much further by working with partners to bring this exciting technology to more challenging areas.”

BT’s local network business, Openreach, will be making fibre broadband available to two-thirds of UK homes and businesses by the end of Spring 2014. The roll-out uses a mix of fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) and fibre to the premises (FTTP) technologies. More than 13 million UK premises can already access fibre broadband and this figure is increasing by around 100,000 every week.

Both technologies offer speeds many times faster than the current UK average, reported by the regulator Ofcom to be 9Mbps. FTTC, where fibre is delivered to new street cabinets, offers download speeds of up to 80Mbps and upload speeds of up to 20Mbps¹.

FTTP, where fibre runs all the way to homes and businesses, offers a variety of download speeds with the current top speed being 330Mbps¹. From Spring 2013 BT aims to make speeds of 330Mbps² available on demand in any area where FTTC has been deployed².

BT’s network is available on an open, wholesale basis to all companies providing broadband services so Scottish households and businesses will benefit from a highly competitive market.

Internet users with a fibre broadband connection can do much more online, all at the same time. A family can download a movie, watch a TV replay service, surf the net and play games online simultaneously. A whole album can be downloaded in less than 30 seconds and a feature length HD movie in less than ten minutes, whilst high-resolution photos can be uploaded to Facebook in seconds.

The upload speeds are the fastest widely available to consumers in the UK, with large video and data files being sent almost instantly and hi-resolution photos posted online in seconds. And high quality voice and video calls mean businesses can keep in touch with customers while they cut down on travel.

For further information on Openreach’s fibre broadband programme visit www.superfast-openreach.co.uk

Notes to editors

Scottish locations included in today’s announcement are below. The figure of 291,000 additional premises includes around 145,000 in the 25 new communities and around 146,000 in exchange areas which have previously been announced in BT’s fibre broadband programme.

¹ These are the top wholesale speeds available from Openreach to all service providers; speeds offered by service providers may vary.

² Openreach will levy an installation charge for FTTP on demand. It will be up to service providers to decide whether they pass that onto businesses or consumers wishing to take advantage of the product.

Due to the current network topography, and the economics of deployment, it is likely that some premises within the selected exchange areas will not initially be able to access fibre-based broadband. Alternative solutions for these locations are being investigated.

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Contact: Anna Steven
Phone: 0800 085 0660
Email: anna.steven@bt.com
Website: http://www.btplc.com/news