The Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband team celebrated fibre broadband availability in the South Ayrshire town of Girvan. They were joined by senior pupils from Girvan Primary School to unveil the latest fibre street cabinet that serves part of the local area.
 
Thanks to the programme, the Girvan premises are among more than 16,700 homes and businesses across South Ayrshire that are now able to connect to the Digital Scotland network, which has reached places like Alloway, Barrhill and Barr.

Some of the latest properties passed by the new network – including dozens in Ayr exchange area – can now connect to the most reliable and fastest residential broadband available as the programme uses more Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) to help these harder-to-reach homes join the digital revolution. Work is ongoing, with Openreach engineers continuing work on the ground into 2019.
 
Local people can check the Digital Scotland website - scotlandsuperfast.com - to find out if they are able to access the latest fibre broadband technology. People need to sign up with an internet service provider, as upgrades are not automatic.
 
Councillor Brian McGinley, Economy and Culture Portfolio Holder for South Ayrshire Council said: “This is a real boost for residents and business in Girvan and the surrounding area. It’s great that more of our villages have access to Superfast Broadband which is vital if we’re to grow our rural economy. The difference that Superfast Broadband can make is remarkable and it can easily cope with business or home access through tablets, phones or computers all at the same time."
 
Fibre broadband offers fast and reliable broadband connections at speeds of up to 80Mbps1 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 residents and businesses in and around Girvan.
 
“I would like to thank the pupils from Girvan Primary School for joining us to unveil the latest fibre street cabinet and I am glad to see that it has been able to benefit the local community.”
 
Digital Scotland funding partners include the Scottish Government, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, BT Group, the UK Government through Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK), local authorities and the European Regional Development Fund. BT Group is investing £126 million in the rollout, and the total project value includes around £18 million which is being reinvested back in to the programme as a result of stronger than expected take-up.
 
Robert Thorburn, Partnership Director for Openreach in Scotland, said: “The Digital Scotland project and our hard-working engineers have delivered more coverage across the country at faster speeds than expected.
“The latest upgrades in South Ayrshire include more deployment of future-proof, ultrafast FTTP, which we’re increasingly using in areas where it’s the best technical solution.
 
“We’re proud to be a partner in helping South Ayrshire communities to reach their digital potential. We know there’s more to be done, and we’re committed to doing all we can with partners to bring better broadband to everyone.”
 
Further information is available on Twitter @ScotSuperfast or Facebook at www.facebook.com/scotlandsuperfast.
 
* These are the top wholesale speed available over the Openreach FTTC and FTTP networks to all service providers; speeds offered by service providers may vary.