Concerns raised after Banff and Buchan area misses out on high-speed internet
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A north-east MP said the Scottish Government is ignoring internet problems across Banff and Buchan after snubbing the area for its latest round of full-fibre broadband.
The announcement means not a single Banff and Buchan property has been connected to high-speed broadband from the Scottish Government’s R100 scheme which is supposed to ensure coverage in “harder to reach” parts of the country.
Openreach said it has extended its coverage to include areas such as Ellon, Inverurie, Insch, Inverbervie, Kintore, Monymusk and Newburgh as part of the scheme, benefitting around 3800 households and businesses.
But Banff and Buchan MP David Duguid said the decision to still not include any of his constituency in the project shows the Scottish Government has pushed the area to the “very back of the queue”.
The decision comes despite superfast broadband (over 30Mbps) access standing at around 85 per cent across the Banffshire and Buchan coast, compared to 95 per cent for the whole of Scotland.
The R100 scheme was supposed to bring faster internet to 60,000 properties across the north and north-east by the end of 2021 but the completion date has now been pushed back by seven years to March 2028.
Mr Duguid said: “Residents across Banff and Buchan will rightly be appalled that they are being ignored by the Scottish Government again.
“For the majority of people across my constituency, having superfast broadband is a distant dream because the SNP’s rollout of the R100 scheme has been farcical.
“I’m continuing to push for an improved service for our rural communities who are severely lagging behind and are being forced to look on while the rest of the country receives better broadband.
“This again shows that the SNP Government doesn’t care about our rural communities who have been pushed to the very back of the queue.
“Their failure to deliver on their promise is significantly harming residents and businesses.
“The SNP Government must guarantee that homes across Banff and Buchan are connected up as soon as possible and I will be continuing to fight for this.
“I’m also working with the UK Government to see what help they can give because the Scottish Government committed to fulfil this role but are failing miserably.”
