News / Broadband update
THE ROLLOUT of next-generation broadband in Shetland is set to begin during 2015, Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) said on Tuesday.
The agency gave an update on the state of the £146 million project to bring high speed broadband to the Highlands and Islands when announcing the first eight areas to benefit from speeds of up to 80mbps.
They are Ardersier, Buckie, Milton of Leys, Fortrose, Hopeman, Inverness Culloden, Lhanbryde and Lossiemouth.
As part of the publically funded project, 84 per cent of premises across the area (75 per cent in Shetland) are expected to have access to high-speed broadband by the end of 2016.
HIE said its aspiration was that everyone in the Highlands and Islands should be able to access broadband download speeds of at least 30mbps by 2020.
HIE’s director of digital, Stuart Robertson, said: “Commercial rollout taking place across the UK would have reached no more than one in five premises in the Highlands and Islands.
“So the project’s target of 84 per cent coverage levels for the region will represent a significant step change.”
A spokeswoman added: “It is expected that rollout will begin in Shetland during the course of 2015.”
Tuesday’s announcement was the first in a series of quarterly updates on the progress of the rollout.
Anyone interested in the progress of the rollout can keep up to date on the www.scotlandsuperfast.com website by registering on ‘keep me in the loop’
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