The Scottish Executive announced on Monday that it has agreed a deal with BT that will bring broadband services to every community in Scotland by the end of this year. Engineering work to roll out the service will begin this week.
The Executive had already promised to bring broadband to the bulk of the country by the summer, but will now ensure that the service will be extended to those remote and rural areas where it would not have been commercially feasible to provide broadband without support.Under the new initiative BT will enable 378 exchanges to deliver basic broadband to 51,000 households and 5,400 businesses across Scotland that would not have otherwise received the service.Twenty local authority areas from the Shetland Islands to the Scottish Borders will benefit."We cannot allow remote and rural communities to fall behind simply because they cannot access this vital technology that can make a positive difference to many aspects of our lives," said Enterprise Minister Jim Wallace."By providing access to broadband technology in Scotland and the huge benefits it brings, we are putting in place an important business and educational tool to facilitate economic growth in every community," he explained.Bob Downes, the director of BT Scotland, said:"We look forward to working with the Scottish Executive to overcome Scotland's unique geographical challenges and use technology to place Scotland at the technological, if not physical, epicentre of Europe."
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