Broadband target exceeded
R100 delivers more than 27,000 faster, ultra-reliable connections in a year.
The Scottish Government has surpassed it’s commitment to deliver gigabit-capable broadband connections to 20,000 homes and businesses last year.
A record 27,000 premises were equipped with faster broadband in 2024-25 through the Scottish Government’s Reaching 100% (R100) programme, exceeding a Programme for Government commitment by more than a third.
Connections have been made right across the country, from the Killantringan Lighthouse in Dumfries and Galloway to Stornoway in the Western Isles and Baltasound on Shetland.
The R100 contracts, being delivered by Openreach, have now enabled more than 80,000 faster broadband connections across the country, with 80% of all R100 contract build to take place in rural areas.
Business Minister Richard Lochhead visited Loch Katrine in the Trossachs to hear how access to faster broadband speeds is helping transform opportunities for local businesses.
He said:
“Fast, reliable broadband is a fundamental building block for economic growth. The Scottish Government’s R100 programme is one of the most ambitious and complex digital infrastructure programmes in Europe, rolling out connections in some of the most challenging locations in the country to help businesses and communities prosper.
“Despite telecommunications being reserved to the UK Government, our commitment to the R100 programme illustrates this government’s commitment to delivering the digital connectivity people and businesses need to succeed.
“Exceeding our 2024-25 delivery target was helped by record Scottish Government funding and an ongoing partnership with Openreach maximising the opportunities to deliver fast broadband to even more homes and businesses.”
CEO and Lead Trustee of the Steamship Sir Walter Scott Trust, James Fraser said:
''The impact of the introduction of fibre cable connections at Loch Katrine has been transformative for many aspects of our core business and our tenants. With an increasing trend to digital bookings for cruises, eco lodges, cycle hire and meals out, having high speed digital connections is critical to the success of our business and other businesses on the lochside.
“Previously our digital speeds were very poor leading to customer dissatisfaction, loss of bookings and customer complaints, particularly from guests staying overnight in our eco lodges or in campervans in our car parks. With the higher speeds now available there has been a marked improvement in digital services with increased customer satisfaction levels.''
Openreach Partnership Director for Scotland, Robert Thorburn, said:
"It's brilliant to see businesses like the Steamship Sir Walter Scott benefitting from full fibre. We're committed to making sure that the hardest-to-reach homes and businesses in Scotland are connected to the latest generation of broadband technology, giving them access to the same fast, reliable services available in our cities.
"While building new full fibre networks in rural areas throws up many challenges, our engineers have the skills and experience to overcome these and deserve an enormous amount of credit for their work. We're proud of the role we've played, working alongside the Scottish Government, in hitting this significant milestone - but we know that our work isn't done yet, and we'll continue to connect communities across the country."
Background
The commitment to connect over 20,000 premises to gigabit capable broadband in areas of market failure by March 2025, through delivery of three regional, multi-year contracts with Openreach is set out in the Programme for Government 2024-25: Serving Scotland.
Originally conceived as a superfast broadband programme, R100 is now providing a gigabit-capable connection – a speed more than 30 times faster than superfast broadband - in around 99% of cases. Building to some of the hardest-to-reach parts of Scotland, a total of 78,000 connections have enabled access to faster broadband as a result of the R100 contracts.