The newly appointed Economy Convener Gavin Barrie did not have to wait too long for his first photo opportunity.
He only took up the job last Thursday but this morning he donned his hard hat and high vis to join Minister for Infrastructure, Investment and Cities, Keith Brown MSP, on Ferry Road to sort out some fibre broadband.
Tomorrow will mark two years since the start of the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme and now another batch of houses in the capital should have access to the speed that comes with fibre optic.
Located on Ferry Gait Drive, Edinburgh, the cabinet visited by Mr Brown this morning delivers fibre broadband to premises within its proximity and is one of 2,480 new street cabinets across Scotland that have been built, thanks to the £410 million DSSB programme. At the moment 189 cabinets across the capital have been enabled thanks to the programme with more to follow in the coming months.
Keith Brown said:“I am delighted to have worked with Barrie today on another important milestone for the programme. More and more cabinets across the capital are now starting to go live thanks to the programme. In total, including work that the programme has done and commercial coverage over 89 per cent of the capital now has access to fibre broadband.
“The programme which has gone from strength-to-strength since its launch in April 2014 is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund and is another example of how being in the European Union is vital to help Scotland’s economy continue to grow and prosper.”
Councillor Gavin Barrie, Convener for Economy with the City of Edinburgh Council said: “Having this infrastructure in place will provide a great boost to our business community and act as a major draw for future inward investment. Firms can look forward to benefitting from much faster speeds which will allow them to operate more efficiently, work in new ways and exploit new business opportunities.
“Residents will be able to access the same level of superfast service – something which will be warmly welcomed when you consider average households have seven gadgets and devices connected to their internet at any one time.
“With 89 per cent of the capital now connected, thousands of homes and businesses will notice a real difference to the quality of their connections if they subscribe to the new services. Find out whether your area is ready and how to take advantage of the roll-out at the Scotland Superfast website.”
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