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Recent releases
The Broadband project took a major step forward today (Tuesday 9 July). The national contract for the roll out of the new fibre Broadband was signed between the Scottish Government and BT, who will deliver the project. This national contract will provide Superfast Broadband to 75% of the region.
Policy and Resources committee were told in May that 85% of
premises in our region would receive Superfast Broadband as part of the roll
out. This news got better today – 95% of
households and businesses in the region will now have their Broadband speeds
increased when the project is completed.
This additional coverage is a result of the additional
investment that was made by Dumfries and Galloway Council. Councillors identified that the roll out of
Superfast Broadband is a priority for our region. As such, they committed £12.6M to expand the targets
of the national project. This cemented the Council’s commitment to delivering
Superfast Broadband to as many people in our region as possible.
Today’s announcement that 95% of local premises will now
benefit from the delivery of Superfast Broadband was welcomed by the Council. This expansion of the roll out will result in
more businesses and homes being able to capitalise on the benefits of Superfast
Broadband. This will have a huge economic and social impact on our local communities. 80% of these premises will have Superfast
Broadband delivered by 2015. The roll
out will be complete by 2017.
As 95% are set to benefit from the national roll out, the Council has made a commitment to working with the additional 5% of premises to identify broadband solutions for them also.
Work will now begin on the roll out to deliver superfast
broadband. Every mile of route needs to
be surveyed – this will take into account sites of historic, scientific and
natural importance and features such as rails tracks, road crossing and
bridges.
Depute Leader, Councillor Brian Collins, said “Dumfries and Galloway Council committed to investing in the roll out of superfast Broadband at a very early stage. This is a priority project for our Council. We recognise what a difference this will make to the people of our region. Commercially, educationally and socially, this will allow local people to carry out tasks online more quickly and efficiently. This will completely transform how our communities use the internet. Our Council is committed to working with those households and communities who are in the remaining 5% - we will work with them to access Broadband that is faster and more reliable. In this way, no-one will be disadvantaged by the roll-out. The majority of households will receive Superfast Broadband by 2015”
