Digital Scotland’s new mobile Showcase is rolling in to Motherwell next week (October 22) to help local people find out more about the benefits of super-fast fibre broadband.

More than 1,200 Motherwell homes and businesses are now able to connect to fibre broadband thanks to the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme, joining more than 16,000 across North Lanarkshire now passed by the £410m rollout.

Other areas that are live thanks to the Digital Scotland programme include Caldercruix, Chryston,

Plains, Bellshill, Shotts and Harthill – with more coverage to follow as engineers from BT’s local network business Openreach continue work on the ground in the coming months. The project underpins the Scottish Government’s aim of delivering world class connectivity by 2020.

Anyone in the local community interested in finding out how fibre broadband works and the benefits it can provide is welcome to attend the free drop-in event at the south entrance of the Motherwell Shopping Centre, Brandon Parade, between 10am and 2pm on Thursday October 22.  

The Fibre Showcase is a specially-adapted vehicle which features all of the equipment used in the roll-out of fibre broadband – from new green street cabinets to showing how fibre-optic cables are ‘blown’ underground as part of the deployment.

The Digital Scotland community team will be on hand to get people up to speed with the technology and provide advice on areas such as signing up with a service provider.

Regeneration Convener for North Lanarkshire Council, David Fagan,said: “It’s really exciting to hear that so many residences in and around Motherwell are already able to connect to fibre broadband. It’s good to see this project reaching more communities in our area, contributing towards the aim of connecting most of our homes and businesses to fibre broadband.

“We hope to have a good turn-out at the event at The Motherwell Shopping Centre and demonstrate to our residents and various businesses the huge benefits which fibre broadband will provide.”

Fibre broadband enables multiple users in a home or business to access the internet, download and share large files at the same time, at speeds of up to 80Mbps*. In order to take advantage of the higher speeds now available, residents should contact their service provider.

Sara Budge, programme director for Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband, said: “It’s great news that many residents and businesses in Motherwell are now able to receive fibre broadband thanks to the programme, with more local coverage to follow.

“I’m also excited that we’ll be having our new Digital Scotland fibre showcase in the town. This will give residents an interesting and detailed idea of what fibre broadband can provide and exactly how it’s delivered.

“The difference a high-speed connection can make is amazing, giving much more flexibility at work or in the home. I hope that local residents will come along to the event at The Motherwell Shopping Centre to get an understanding of the boost they can expect from a fast fibre broadband connection when they sign up with a service provider.” 

BT is investing £126 million in the Digital Scotland programmein addition to its commercial rollout of fibre broadband in Scotland, which covers  14,700 Motherwell properties.

Brendan Dick, BT Scotland director, said: “Thousands more people in North Lanarkshire now have access to their best ever broadband speeds thanks to the Digital Scotland project and this is a great opportunity to come and find out what it could mean for you. I hope many more local people and businesses will soon be taking advantage of all the opportunities on offer.”

Local people can check the interactive map on the Digital Scotland website (www.digitalscotland.org/whereandwhen) 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