Tens of thousands of families, farmers and local business owners across North-east Scotland are set to see their digital lives transformed as GoFibre begins construction on a landmark project to deliver lightning fast, ultra reliable, full fibre broadband to around 100,000 homes and businesses in some of the region’s hardest to reach communities.
For the first time, rural residents in parts of seven local authorities – Aberdeenshire, Aberdeen City, Angus, Dundee, Highland, Moray and Perth & Kinross will enjoy the same world class connectivity as Scotland’s major cities - enabling seamless remote working, effortless streaming, smarter farming and giving local enterprises the tools to compete and grow.
The build is being delivered by Scottish broadband provider GoFibre as part of a major government contract to improve connectivity in underserved areas. In July, GoFibre was chosen as the supplier to deliver full fibre broadband to around 63,000 hard-to-reach premises across North-east Scotland as part of joint efforts by the UK and Scottish governments to supercharge internet access in mostly rural areas. Project Gigabit is the UK Government’s programme to enable hard-to-reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit-capable broadband. The Scottish Government is playing a key role in delivering Project Gigabit procurements in Scotland by administering and managing the delivery of the contracts.
GoFibre will be adding additional premises to the build on a commercial basis, with no public subsidy, meaning at least 100,000 premises across the North-east will be added to its full fibre network.
This major infrastructure investment will also unlock economic growth and create 30 local jobs directly during build, with up to 180 jobs created across the lifetime of contract, including through subcontractors.
The first areas to see network build start, this month are: Stonehaven, St Cyrus, Laurencekirk, Auchenblae, Letham Angus and Longforgan. Survey began in January with build kicking off in these areas in February.
This will expand GoFibre’s existing network of around 10,000 premises in Aberdeenshire (in Laurencekirk, Stonehaven and Newtonhill and around 15,000 premises in Angus (Montrose, Forfar and Kirriemuir).
Neil Conaghan, CEO of GoFibre, said: “We know how frustrating unreliable broadband can be, whether you’re trying to run a business, help your kids with homework or just stream a film without it buffering. This project is all about changing that.
“As a company with its roots firmly in Scotland, we are incredibly proud to begin construction in the North-east. We’re bringing faster speeds right to people’s front doors, and we can’t wait to see the difference it makes. It’s going to open up opportunities and make everyday life easier. Best of all, we’re doing it while creating jobs and investing in the communities we serve, because this is home for us too.”
Headquartered in Edinburgh and founded in the Scottish Borders, GoFibre has been recognised as one of Scotland’s top 10 fastest growing companies. This North-east contract, the largest in Scotland, joins another Project Gigabit contract the company is delivering in the Scottish Borders and East Lothian, with two already completed in Teesdale and North Northumberland.
Once live, the network will enable broadband speeds of up to 1Gbps - fast enough to download a full HD movie in under a minute. Residents and businesses are encouraged to register their interest now to be the first to connect when services become available. To check availability and register for updates, please visit: www.gofibre.co.uk.