Scottish government schemes drive over one million connections

More than one million faster broadband connections have been delivered to premises across Scotland, backed by £1 billion of publicly-driven investment.

The £463m Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme, which ran from 2014 to 2020, connected more than 950,600 premises to fibre, over 150,000 more than originally planned.

Independent analysis shows that the programme is delivering £12 of benefits to the economy for every £1 of public funding.

The £600m Reaching 100% (R100) programme, continues to rollout connections in challenging rural locations. 

So far, 48,000 connections have so far been delivered through the R100 contracts, with a further 3,800 connections provided through the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme. 

Wellbeing Economy Secretary Mairi McAllan (pictured) said: “Fast and reliable broadband has never been so important which is precisely why the Scottish Government has prioritised investment in digital connectivity in the 2024-25 Budget.

“Indeed, despite telecoms being reserved, we have now committed to investing more than £650 million across the DSSB and R100 programmes, recognising that faster broadband is a key building block for a green and growing economy.