The Scottish Government

Exchange Activate Upgrades

23 September 2009

Telephone exchanges in rural areas of Scotland are to be upgraded, providing increased access to broadband.

The move follows talks between the Scottish Government and BT aimed at securing increased broadband capacity in some remote areas where access is not possible.

Finance Secretary John Swinney said:

"While Scotland has high levels of broadband availability, the Scottish Government and BT recognise the frustration felt in some rural communities where people are unable to obtain a service.

"After exploring the many challenges with BT, we are pleased that a way forward has been found allowing an exchange upgrade programme to take place. This will enable more residents and businesses to benefit from a broadband service which people in most areas of Scotland already enjoy."

The exchanges to be upgraded are expected to be agreed in the coming weeks, following further discussions between the Scottish Government and BT. Exchanges operating at or approaching capacity will be given early consideration.

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Following our announcement of 26 June 2008, we are pleased to announce that Isle Ornsay exchange has now been upgraded to full platform ADSL. New customers will be able to benefit from broadband speeds of up to 8Mbps and choose from a full range of ISPs. (Please note that the actual speed available is dependent on distance from the exchange). Existing broadband customers on these exchanges may wish to contact their ISPs with regard to the broadband options available to them.

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26 June 2008

The Scottish Government's upgrade programme in which BT installed new capacity at 45 Exchange Activate exchanges completed successfully in April 2008. This programme was undertaken as part of our existing contract with BT. It re-invested savings in order to provide additional capacity in exchanges experiencing constraints for serving new customers. Full ADSL upgrades were selected in preference to the addition of an "exchange activate" module only where such an upgrade was more cost-effective in relative terms.

The following 29 exchanges have been upgraded to full platform ADSL. New customers will be able to benefit from broadband speeds of up to 8Mbps and choose from a full range of ISPs. (Please note that the actual speed available is dependent on distance from the exchange). Existing broadband customers on these exchanges may wish to contact their ISPs with regard to the broadband options available to them.

Arden, Ardvasar, Collieston, Craignure, Deerness, Dunbeath, Dundonnell, Eday, Evie, Forss, Fountainhall, Gask, Glendale, Heriot, John O'Groats, Keiss, Kildrummy, Kishorn, Longhope, Morvern, Onich, Plockton, Rousay, Sanday, Sligachan, Stronsay, Struan, Tomatin, Waternish

The following 16 exchanges have been upgraded through the installation of an additional "exchange activate" module. This has removed capacity issues, meaning more customers are able to benefit from broadband at a download speed of 512Kbps.

Applecross, Birsay, Burravoe, Colintraive, Drummuir, Duntulm, Fern, Jura, Loch Scavaig, North Roe, Stobo, Stromeferry, Trochry, Uig, Vidlin, Whitsome

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Isle Ornsay

In addition, the Isle Ornsay exchange will be upgraded to full platform ADSL, and this upgrade is expected to be complete by spring 2009. After this time, customers will be able to order broadband at a speed of up to 8Mbps and a choice from a full range of ISPs. An indicative date for the upgrade will be announced on this website in due course.

As an interim measure, additional capacity has already been installed at Isle Ornsay exchange, which alleviates the previous capacity issues. A broadband service at a speed of 512Kbps (0.5Mb) is available now at this exchange from a limited choice of ISPs; these ISPs are Abel Internet, AOL, BT, Entanet, Scotnet and Telecomplete.