Biggar resident is on-song and online thanks to Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband

More than 1,500 homes and businesses in Biggar are now able to connect to high-speed fibre broadband, thanks to the £410m Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme.

Song-writer Peter Rae from the town is one of thousands of people across South Lanarkshire who is benefiting from fibre broadband.

Since signing up, Peter has seen a significant improvement in his service, revolutionising the way in which he is able to communicate across the world, including Australia and America.

He’s involved in co-writing songs with artists in New York, and his daughter Angela lives close to Melbourne in Australia, so having fast internet is essential.

Peter said: “Before signing up to fibre broadband trying to contact my daughter was particularly frustrating as we couldn’t have an uninterrupted conversation due to constant buffering.

“It’s an amazing opportunity that I have to co-write songs, but in order to be able to do it effectively we need to communicate frequently to collaborate. So it’s essential for me to have a clear and fast internet connection.”

Living in a rural community, Peter initially thought that it would be an issue to get connected to fibre broadband. However, after visiting a Digital Scotland event, he contacted his service provider to request an upgrade the same day.

Peter added: “Having fibre broadband also made a huge difference on Hogmanay this year as we broadcasted our yearly bonfire via webcam (www.bggarwebcam.co.uk). Over the years we have had viewers from all over the world watch the celebrations. This year, thanks to fibre broadband, there was a noticeable difference in the quality of the streaming.”

Many rural areas across South Lanarkshire are now live with high-speed services, including Thankerton, Rigside, Carluke and Douglas. More local coverage will follow as engineers from Openreach, BT’s local network business, continue work on the ground.

Fibre broadband offers fast and reliable broadband connections at speeds of up to 80Mbps* and there are many suppliers in the marketplace to choose from. Whether you own a business, work from home or want to keep in touch with friends and family, fibre broadband enables multiple users to connect to the internet at high speeds and get better, faster access to online services.

Sara Budge, Programme Director for Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband, said: “It’s fantastic news that the programme has been able to benefit Peter and many others residents and businesses in and around Biggar.”

BT is investing £126 million in the Digital Scotland rollout. Robert Thorburn, BT Scotland’s Fibre Broadband Director, concluded: “Hundreds of Biggar residents can now connect to their best ever broadband speeds when they sign up with a service provider, and we’d encourage local people to check out their options.

“It’s a highly competitive market, so people could potentially be surfing at much higher speeds at a similar cost to their current service. Once you’ve made the switch to super-fast, we’re confident you’ll never look back.”

People can check the interactive map on the Digital Scotland website (http://www.scotlandsuperfast.com/where-when/) to find out if they can get the service and further information is also available on Twitter @ScotSuperfast or Facebook at www.facebook.com/scotlandsuperfast

ENDS

*These are the top wholesale speeds available from Openreach to all service providers; speeds offered by service providers may vary.
Notes to editors:
Due to the current network topography and the economics of deployment, it is likely that not all premises within selected exchange areas will be able to access fibre-based broadband at the same point in the roll-out.

The Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme aims to provide fibre broadband infrastructure to parts of Scotland not included in commercial providers’ investment plans. Combined with current commercial roll-out plans, the programme will deliver access to fibre broadband to around 95% of premises by the end of the current contract.

Funding partners include the Scottish Government, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, BT, the UK Government through Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK), local authorities and the European Regional Development Fund.