Question reference: S4O-03550
- Asked by: Aileen McLeod, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 24 September 2014
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Current status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 1 October 2014
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made on the rollout of next generation broadband in South Scotland.
Answer
The local authorities in the south of Scotland are key investment partners in the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme.
The south of Scotland will receive upgraded infrastructure throughout the four year programme, which will run until the end of 2017.
In the first two phases of the programme, it has been confirmed that cabinets connected to the exchanges in Galashiels and Dumfries will receive fibre broadband. It has also been announced that the following exchange areas will be fibre-enabled: Amisfield, Castle Douglas in Dumfries and Galloway, and Earlston, Lauder, Melrose, Selkirk and St Boswells in Scottish Borders.
By the end of the programme, access to fibre broadband in the south of Scotland is expected to increase from 32% to 94% of premises.