Improved broadband connected in Methlick
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Homes and businesses in Methlick can now upgrade to faster fibre broadband through the £463 million Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) rollout.
Across Aberdeenshire almost 88,600 homes and business can now connect to fibre broadband thanks to the DSSB programme, which is drawing to a close.
Engineers from Openreach have also connected more homes in Lonmay, Banchory and Torphins to superfast broadband, while some premises in Newtonhill have access to a gigabit-capable full fibre network.
Also known as Fibre-to-the-Premises or FTTP, the technology provides ultrafast broadband directly to these homes.
Across Scotland more than 950,000 premises have now been passed by the programme – with 5078 new fibre street cabinets now live, offering broadband services at speeds up to 80Mbps. More than 16,730km of cables have been laid – including 400km of sub-sea cable.
More than 67 per cent of properties reached by the programme have now switched to faster fibre broadband.
Fibre technology offers fast and reliable connections at a range of speeds and there are many suppliers in the marketplace to choose from.
Local people can check if the new fibre services are available to them at www.scotlandsuperfast.com/yourstreet
DSSB programme director Sara Budge said: "More and more people have now signed up or are able to sign up to fibre broadband thanks to the £463 million Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme, and it is particularly pleasing to see this in rural areas and market towns.
"Due to Covid-19 the way we work and live our lives has changed dramatically. The difference that having fibre broadband can make if you are working from home is remarkable.
"I’d urge everyone to take advantage of the faster speeds now available.
“There's lots of competition out there and people may find they could be surfing at much higher speeds at a similar cost to their current service, but the key is for customers to contact one or more service providers to explore the options available to them, as upgrades to customers’ broadband packages are not automatic.”
Delivered through two projects – led by Highlands and Islands Enterprise in its area and the Scottish Government in the rest of Scotland – funding partners also include the UK Government through Building Digital UK (BDUK), BT Group, local authorities and the EU via the European Regional Development Fund, with Openreach leading the build on the ground.
Partnership director for Openreach in Scotland Robert Thorburn said: “In a turbulent year where so much has seemed uncertain, people in places like Methlick will greatly welcome their new, fast, reliable connections.
“Some of the latest households to benefit are taking a big leap forward with full fibre technology, which is designed to last for decades to come.
“We’ve made great progress as a digital nation – and that will continue as our engineers gear up for the next stage of the journey.”
Aberdeenshire East MSP Gillian Martin and Banffshire and Buchan Coast MSP Stewart Stevenson have welcomed the announcement by DSSB.
Ms Martin said: “As we continue to work from home it is more important than ever to ensure we can connect to superfast broadband.
“I would urge constituents to check what faster speeds could be available to them as we make progress as a digital nation.”
Mr Stevenson said: "This is a big leap forward in full-fibre technology and is more important than ever in what has been a turbulent year.
“It is particularly important that this technology has been expanded to more rural areas across the north-east.”
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