R100 LOT 1 (North Scotland and Highlands) Fibre Broadband details: FOI release

Information requested

Any information or correspondence the Scottish Government holds on the expected completion date of R100 LOT 1 (North Scotland and the Highlands);

Any information or correspondence the Scottish Government holds on the technology that will be used for the 20% of North LOT addresses that will not be receiving Fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP);

The number of addresses in the North LOT area that have utilised the R100 voucher scheme since its launch in August 2020.

Response

We have addressed each of your questions below:

At contract signature the expected build completion date of the R100 Lot 1 (North lot) was 31 December 2026. To take account of changes in the intervention area since the original bid response was received we will issue Openreach with a revised list of premises to which they will then remodel their build plans. It is, as yet, unknown whether this will impact the expected completion date.

At contract signature around 86% of the North lot contract build was planned to be delivered via Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) with the remaining premises to be delivered via Fibre-to-the- Cabinet (FTTC). All connections delivered through the R100 contracts will be capable of providing a superfast connection at speeds of 30Mbps or greater. Anyone whose home or business broadband speed is less than 30 Megabits per second (Mbps), and where there are no plans to bring superfast broadband to their address by the end of 2021 - either through the R100 contracts or through commercial delivery plans - will be eligible for a voucher via the Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme.

Latest figures (as at 22 March 2021) show that 255 vouchers have been approved through the Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme for premises in the North lot with 64 installations completed.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.