A £105 million contract to boost broadband capabilities in the north east of Scotland has been awarded to Edinburgh-headquartered GoFibre.
The contract, funded by the UK Government and procured and delivered by the Scottish Government, will benefit some of the most rural areas in Aberdeenshire, Aberdeen, Angus, Dundee, Moray, the Highlands, and parts of Perth and Kinross – with around 63,000 more premises set to be able to access gigabit-capable broadband
The contract is the third to be awarded as part of the Project Gigabit programme in Scotland. It follows a £25 million contract being awarded to GoFibre to benefit around 11,000 premises in the Scottish Borders and East Lothian and a £157 million contract awarded to Openreach to provide access to more than 65,000 premises in the Highlands and Outer Hebrides, together with some of the most hard-to-reach areas across the country.
Scottish Government business minister, Richard Lochhead, said, “Fast, reliable broadband is a fundamental building block for Scotland’s economy – and for our society. It’s why we are committed to ensuring connections across the country meet the needs of people and businesses, delivering faster connections to more than a million premises over the last decade.
“Project Gigabit will build on and complement the transformational work already being delivered through the Scottish Government’s Reaching 100% programme and I look forward to working with the UK Government, as broadband remains a reserved matter, to ensure we deliver more gigabit-capable connections to rural communities.”
GoFibre CEO Neil Conaghan added, “This Project Gigabit contract award is a hugely exciting development for the north east of Scotland, and for GoFibre, transforming broadband connectivity across a substantial region of Scotland.
“As a fast-growing Scottish independent broadband company, GoFibre is committed to improving connectivity in rural and hard-to-reach areas and we cannot wait to get started on this major infrastructure project. Building on the back of our Project Gigabit contract award for the Borders and East Lothian earlier this year, it shows GoFibre is at the heart of rural broadband development in Scotland.”
