NGA roll-out leaves Highlands and Islands behind

A new report has warned that the Highlands and Islands could be left behind the rest of the UK in the roll-out of next generation broadband access (NGA).

The study, commissioned by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) suggests 95% of the area has a basic level of broadband.

However, the report said that homes in the Highlands and Islands would not be included in the initial introduction of BGA, which involves replacing some or all of the existing copper phone lines with fibre-optic cables.

The report for HIE said the technology was already available on almost all of Virgin Media’s network, but the company had no plans to extend this to the Highlands and Islands.

Analysts said BT was in the early stages of connecting 10 million homes to fibre-optic cables, however, none of the first 1.5 million households to be covered is in the region.

The cost of deploying the cables in HIE’s area – which includes Argyll, the Western Isles and Orkney and Shetland – has been estimated at between £81m and £480m.

Alex Paterson, HIE director of regional competitiveness, said good internet services were vital to the region’s businesses.

He said: “Telecoms connectivity is a cornerstone of the digital economy and provides opportunities to accelerate innovation and raise productivity.

“HIE is committed to ensuring that the region attracts funding and consequently infrastructure for next generation access broadband coverage.

“It will be key to our ambition to be one of the most competitive regions in the world.”

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