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Broadband services across Scotland
05/10/2007
A scheme to extend broadband services to those who want them but cannot get connected was announced today.
Individuals and businesses have been asked to come forward so that the so-called 'reach' problem where people cannot access broadband technology, mainly due to the distance from ADSL-enabled telephone exchanges, can be addressed.
An open procurement process, worth up to £3.5 million, has now started to find a suitable provider(s) to deliver services with the aim of ensuring people wanting broadband in rural areas are provided with access.
Register a problem with broadband
Enterprise Minister Jim Mather said:
"As many individuals and businesses in Scotland as possible should have broadband access.
"In this 21st century, broadband is an increasingly vital tool for business and is now used by more and more households as a standard utitility. By extending the availability of affordable broadband, we can help create a wealthier and fairer Scotland."
Anyone with access problems should inform the Scottish Government by the end of 2007 (if they have not already done so) to enable connectivity work to begin in 2008.
Scotland currently has over 99 per cent broadband availability. However, the Scottish Government has been monitoring continuing access difficulties and aims to satisfy the unmet demand for affordable broadband.
The Scottish Government decided on an open procurement approach to deliver affordable and sustainable broadband services after three phases of work - research on broadband reach, discussions with BT (which illustrated the imcumbent had no offering to deliver feasible solutions to reach) and more recently, consultation with the wider industry and public on alternative options.
Register a problem with broadband
Due to data protection issues on information held by telecom operators, the Scottish Government can only attempt to resolve access problems which are notified directly. Ideally, individuals should have attempted to secure services from existing suppliers by ordering broadband and requesting that an engineer tests their line - as this is the only way to confirm whether broadband is actually available or not.