PEOPLE living in Cardross are among the latest to feel the benefits of a £600 million programme to improve broadband speeds to some of Scotland's hardest-to-connect properties.
Residents in the village are among 57,000 people to be making the most of full fibre broadband through the roll-out of the 'Reaching 100%', or R100, project.
Infrastructure delivery partner Openreach has connected homes in Kilmelford, south of Oban, and on islands of Seil and Lismore, as well as in Cardross, in the latest phase of the scheme.
Full fibre broadband is more than 30 times faster than the Scottish Government’s original commitment to make superfast services available to homes and businesses with existing connections of less than 30 megabits per second (Mbps).
Tom Arthur, employment and investment minister at the Scottish Government, said: “Digital infrastructure is a key enabler of economic growth and an increasingly vital part of our everyday lives.
"It’s why the Scottish Government is committed to ensuring communities across the length and breadth of the country will benefit from full fibre broadband and making record investment of over £600 million in its rollout.
“As one of the most ambitious and complex digital infrastructure programmes in Europe, it is delivering future-proofed digital connectivity across the country and enabling more homes and businesses – including in our island and rural communities – to access a fast and reliable connection.
“It’s exciting that thousands more premises are now able to access a full fibre connection, and we’ll continue to work with Openreach to deliver further connections up and down the country.”
READ MORE: Helensburgh to get ultrafast broadband promises Openreach
R100 registrations help Openreach plan the best way to meet the level of demand in each community. Once full fibre is available, people can arrange for their service to be upgraded through their chosen provider.
Robert Thorburn, Openreach partnership director for Scotland, said: “The R100 build is a monumental effort to upgrade and connect Scotland’s most challenging locations.
“We’re seeing really positive, steady growth in take-up across the country, and our teams are all set for a busy period of new upgrades, working with Argyll and Bute Council.”
He added: “We do our best to avoid disruptive operations by reusing existing poles and ducts and deploying engineering innovations instead of digging up roads.
"But we do want residents to be aware that sometimes civils work or new poles are needed, to include as many local homes and businesses as possible.”
People across Argyll and Bute can check if the rollout has reached their address yet and register for updates by visiting openreach.co.uk/r100.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here