A recent survey from bOnline has shown that many SMEs are unsure about the availability of altnet in their area, with confusion over the UK’s broadband roll-out strategy.
Thu, 30/11/2023 - 11:23
The first 100 homes and businesses on the Hebridean isle of Jura can now access Openreach’s full fibre network, made possible by joint voucher funding from the UK and Scottish governments.
The Government’s Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme and the Scottish Government’s Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme were used to subsidise standard funding from Openreach and enable the island’s digital transformation.
Around 200 homes will benefit in total with more properties able to upgrade before Christmas.
Robert Thorburn, Openreach Partnership Director for Scotland, said: “This will provide numerous benefits as transformative connectivity helps make communities sustainable, people can stay local and take full advantage of online opportunities.”
The rollout builds on earlier investment in two new 4G masts at Craighouse and Ardlussa, which saw fibre links installed on the island by Openreach as part of the Scottish Government’s S4GI programme.
Subsea cables between Ormsary in Argyll and Bute, Jura and Islay were laid as part of the earlier Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband subsea programme, led by Highlands & Islands Enterprise and also delivered by Openreach.
