More than 193,000 homes and businesses have been reached by the publicly funded Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband project, led in the region by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), and delivered on the ground by digital network business, Openreach.

The project, funded by the Scottish Government, Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK), HIE and BT, has created a core fibre network across the region from Shetland to Kintyre.

Scotland’s Connectivity Minister Paul Wheelhouse, said: “Along with this great work in the Highlands and Islands, the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme has reached over 950,000 homes and businesses across Scotland and my thanks go to all the delivery partners for ensuring its success.

“DSSB has laid the foundations for a robust, future-proof, critical national infrastructure. It is providing lasting digital, economic and social benefit for people living and working in the Highlands and Islands and beyond – something that’s been all the more important during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I look forward to the successor programme, ‘Reaching 100%’, starting to rollout in northern Scotland in 2021.”

One of the communities, connected in April this year, is South Whiteness in Shetland. The download speed of available broadband leapt from 1 Mbps to ultrafast Fibre to the Premises (FTTP). Around 75% of homes on the Shetland West service ordered it, currently the highest full fibre take-up in the region.