VIRGIN Media has given the future of ultrafast broadband in Scotland a boost with the announcement of its expansion programme.
Project Lightning will see the firm connect thousands more Scottish homes and businesses in 2018
The plans were made public at a Virgin Media event in Edinburgh attended by Fergus Ewing MSP, the Scottish Government’s Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy and Connectivity, as well as local authority representatives from across Scotland.
Project Lightning has now connected more than 100,000 premises across Scotland to ultrafast broadband since 2016. Areas which will be benefitting this year include: Bathgate, Bonnyrigg, Cranhill, Joppa, Jordanhill, Kilbirnie, Kilmarnock, Shettleston and Stepps.
More than one million premises in Scotland are now able to access Virgin Media’s gigabit-ready broadband network which offers speeds up to 350Mbps, the fastest widely available in the UK.
“I welcome this announcement by Virgin Media and I am encouraged by their promise to connect thousands more Scottish homes and businesses in 2018, building on their current rollout in Scotland,” said Ewing. “By focusing our £600 million investment in Scotland’s rural areas, while creating the right environment to encourage the likes of Virgin Media to invest in our urban areas, we are ensuring that we meet our commitment to deliver 100 per cent superfast broadband access across Scotland by the end of 2021.”
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