The lower penetration rate of fibre in England’s coastal communities threatens to see these areas fall across various socio-economic metrics, find the Coastal Communities Alliance.
Tue, 29/11/2022 - 14:04
Openreach is bringing fibre to residents in Mouswald, a Dumfriesshire internet black spot, through funding from the Reaching 100% (R100) Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (SBVS).
The project has upgraded 57 properties including a local residential and holiday park. Openreach is continuing work to bring ultrafast full fibre to some further outlying properties next year.
It’s the first and largest of seven community projects being delivered by Openreach this year using SBVS.
The company expects to complete work on a further 13 projects using SBVS funding during 2023.
Business Minister Ivan McKee said: “I would encourage other communities, businesses or individual households that need faster broadband to consider the R100 SBVS as a potential solution, which has already delivered more than 2,600 new connections across Scotland.”
Robert Thorburn, partnership director for Openreach Scotland, said: “While many households in Mouswald were upgraded in previous investment cycles, these 57 properties missed out.
“We were determined to find an answer for them, and the Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme provided the additional funding needed to let us go ahead with a full fibre build.”
