OPENREACH has announced plans to build full fibre broadband in over 500 more locations across the UK, including 28 areas across Scotland.
The new locations include 400,000 premises in the hardest to reach, most rural parts of the UK, with many of these in Scotland.
This includes the popular island town of Tobermory in Mull as well as a number of other council areas such as Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
The work is part of Openreach’s £15 billion project to upgrade the UK’s broadband infrastructure, making gigabit-capable technology available to 25m homes and businesses by the end of 2026, including 6.2m in rural areas.
The full list of locations set for an upgrade across Scotland include:
- Bieldside
- Bucksburn
- Dyce
- Insch
- Tobermory
- Pentland
- Wester Hailes
- Fairmuir
- Steeple
- Bankock
- Balmullo
- Glenrothes Central
- Glenrothes South
- Newport on Tay
- Tayport
- Possil
- Evanton
- Fortrose
- Grantown on Spey
- Port Glasgow (Newark)
- Invergowrie
- Scone
- Lochwinnoch
- Blantyre
- Bothwell
- Hamilton
- Larkhall
- Livingston Bridge
Clive Selley, chief executive of Openreach, said: “We’re on track and on-budget to make this life-changing broadband technology available to 25m homes and businesses.
“We plan to build right across the UK, from cities and towns to far-flung farms and island communities.
“Ultimately, we’ll reach as many as 30m premises by the end of the decade if there’s a supportive political and regulatory environment.
“Over time, we’ve learnt to deliver predictably, consistently and at a rapid pace – despite this being a hugely complex national engineering project.
“That gives us confidence to be even clearer about our build plans and we want to be as transparent as possible about where and when we’re building.
“Today we’re publishing more detail than ever about the places we’re building in now, and the communities we’ll be upgrading next.”
