The UK government is tackling digital exclusion in Scotland with a hefty £157 million contract with Openreach, the country’s top broadband provider. This deal aims to bring gigabit connectivity to around 65,000 homes and businesses, especially in some of Scotland’s most remote areas.
The government wants to provide gigabit-capable broadband to open up opportunities and fuel economic growth in communities still struggling with outdated internet access. Many people in places like the Outer Hebrides and the islands of Skye, Islay, and Tiree currently have almost no access to fast broadband. Only about 7% of those on the Outer Hebrides can get gigabit speeds, one of the lowest rates in the UK. The initiative also targets remote spots in the Highlands, including Applecross and Durness, which are incredibly isolated.
This contract is the largest under the Project Gigabit scheme, which is part of a £5 billion effort launched in 2021 to accelerate recovery from Covid-19, support tech and creative sectors, and level up the economy across the UK. The focus is on connecting areas that commercial providers often overlook, enabling them to access the fastest internet available.
The UK government is collaborating with the Scottish government and Openreach to implement this upgrade. This agreement is part of an £800 million deal struck in August 2024, aimed at eradicating digital exclusion in rural Britain. Work is already progressing to connect over 227,000 homes in hard-to-reach areas of Wales and England.
Additionally, this contract complements the Scottish government’s Reaching 100 (R100) programme and builds on a previous Project Gigabit contract awarded in February 2025 for up to 11,000 locations in the Borders and Midlothian. More deals for areas like Orkney and Shetland are expected later in 2025.
Yvonne Boles, senior site manager for Tayside Reserves at RSPB Scotland, shared how crucial this new deployment is. “We fell between a few gaps in local network improvements,” she explained. “But now we have gigabit-capable fiber to the RSPB Loch Leven visitor center, and it’s a game changer for us. The old internet constantly dropped or was slow, which hurt our office work and card payments in the shop and café. We wasted so much time on the phone with IT trying to fix it. Reliable, powerful internet has been such a relief.”