Half of Scotland’s homes and businesses now have access to ultrafast, reliable broadband, following a GBP 435 million investment in full fiber connections by Openreach.
To date, 1.45 million properties are eligible for upgrades, with a take-up rate of 38%, surpassing the UK average.
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Reaching 100%
Approximately 30% of the fiber rollout targets rural areas, including some of Scotland’s hardest-to-reach communities. Collaborating with the Scottish Government and public sector partners, Openreach has connected around 100,000 remote properties. Recent upgrades include islands like Tiree, Iona, and Mull, as part of the government’s Reaching 100% (R100) initiative.
Research by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) highlights the rollout’s potential to draw an additional 27,399 residents to Scotland, particularly to sparsely populated areas, and facilitate an increase of 17,809 remote workers.
The enhanced fiber network now serves over 64,000 business premises and a wide range of community facilities, including 1,500 educational institutions, 900 healthcare sites, 590 care homes, 1,400 community halls, and 160 emergency service buildings.
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Scotland’s Infrastructure Upgrade
Katie Milligan, Openreach Chief Commercial Officer and Chair of its Scotland Board, emphasized the transformative impact of fast, reliable connectivity across Scotland, highlighting its role in driving economic growth and enabling the redistribution of economic activity to less populated areas.
She described the fiber rollout as one of the most significant infrastructure upgrades of the century, paving the way for future job creation, remote work, digital education, and improved healthcare access. Milligan also expressed pride in the progress made by Openreach engineers, noting that further developments are still to come.
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The Scottish Government’s Minister for Business, Richard Lochhead, said, “We will continue to work with Openreach to deliver access to faster broadband where it is needed most—in rural and island communities—through the Scottish Government’s Reaching 100% program, which has benefitted from more than GBP 600 million of Scottish Government investment.”
Openreach is actively advancing its fiber rollout across numerous cities, towns, and villages, including Inverness, Perth, Helensburgh, Gourock, and Castle Douglas. This year, the company also plans to commence its commercial build in the island capitals of Lerwick, Kirkwall, and Stornoway.