Information Sheets
The Roll Out of Fibre Broadband across Scotland 66% of Scotland already has access to fibre broadband, as services have already been provided by BT and Virgin in those areas where it has been commercially viable to do so. The Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme is aiming to bring fibre broadband to all those other areas, where it has not been viable for commercial operators to provide services. Thanks to this exciting programme, around 95% of Scotland will have access to fibre broadband by the end of 2017 and we are aiming to bring faster broadband to everyone else through the use of alternative technologies. This is the most ambitious roll out of fibre broadband in Europe and, like any other huge infrastructure project, it will not happen overnight. Planning the roll out is incredibly complex as we want to make sure that every single household and business gets the best service possible. It is no exaggeration to say that the Openreach engineers are exploring all the options for just about every single set of premises in Scotland. It’s clearly no small task! In some ways, planning the roll out of fibre is like piecing together a massive jigsaw puzzle.
2 projects Which together form the highest value telecoms infrastructure investment in Europe
750,000 Homes and businesses
400km Sub-sea cables being laid Highlands and Islands
3000 New roadside cabinets
30,000km Fibre optic cable being laid
Rest of Scotland
1:20 Creating ÂŁ20 return for every ÂŁ1 invested
Where will it be best to use Fibre to the Cabinet? Where does it make most sense to use Fibre to the Premises? How will it affect the picture overall if we make that choice? For some places, the decisions are easier, but for many places in Scotland, it’s incredibly challenging. And because the roll out is like putting together a giant jigsaw puzzle, it can appear bewildering to an outsider. It may be frustrating that some areas are enabled for fibre before others, or even that some parts of a town are enabled before others. It can be really confusing if your neighbour can get fibre broadband and you can’t yet! But the roll out of fibre is happening as fast as possible and it is happening in the sequence that will bring maximum benefits for all. By the end of 2017, the giant jigsaw will be completed. Scotland will have a world class fibre broadband infrastructure with around 95% of households and businesses able to get fibre broadband and we are aiming to bring faster broadband to everyone else through alternative technologies.
What is happening behind the scenes? Here is an overview of what is involved in enabling an exchange for fibre broadband. This helps explain why rolling out fibre broadband across Scotland is such a huge task and that it takes time.
Stage One: Pre-planning First of all, Openreach carry out a full review of the current network infrastructure in an exchange area. This could take up to a month to get all the accurate up to date information.
Stage Two: Preparing the exchange Next, it’s a question of working out what new equipment will be needed. Sometimes, bespoke equipment has to be ordered and built. Power facilities need to be upgraded at the exchange and then all the new equipment needs to be installed. All this can take up to 9 months.
Stage Three: Planning the network Whilst all the work at the exchange is in hand, Openreach also draw up a plan for where the fibre, new ducts and street cabinets will go in the local area. This means discussions with local councils to comply with local planning regulations. If there are any complications relating to planning or Openreach need to apply for permission to access privately owned land, this stage can take 9 months to complete.
Stage Four: Installation The final stage is building from the exchange to the new street cabinets. This takes up to 5 months. So, as you can see, rolling out fibre broadband across Scotland takes time – but a world class fibre infrastructure is worth waiting for! To find out more about the plans for fibre broadband in your area, check out the interactive map on our website. And to understand more about the technical aspects of the fibre roll out and what it involves, visit www.digitalscotland.org/ superfast-broadband/deployment-story
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The Partnership – Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband is a public-private partnership that is working together to build a world class digital infrastructure across the country. The commercial rollout of fibre broadband is already underway and more than half of Scotland already has access to fibre broadband, mainly in the more heavily populated areas. The partnership is bringing fibre broadband to those areas where it is not available as it is not currently commercially viable, without public sector investment. For example, there were no plans at all for commercial roll out of fibre broadband to Orkney, Shetland or the Outer Hebrides. The programme is made up of two interlinked projects – one focussing on the Highlands and Islands and the other working to bring fibre broadband to the rest of Scotland. Through our combined efforts, around 95% of homes and businesses in Scotland will now have access to high speed fibre broadband by the end of 2017 and we are investigating the best ways of bringing faster broadband to everyone else, either through fibre or alternative technologies. Together, the two projects represent the highest value telecommunications infrastructure investment in Europe, and will bring fibre broadband to over 750,000 premises across Scotland.
“We are aiming to close the ‘digital divide’ and make sure people of all backgrounds and ages can take advantage of fibre broadband”
“We are aiming to support businesses of all sizes and within all sectors to adopt and make the most of digital technology in the way in which they operate and promote their organisations” Business Excellence Partnership
Chris Yiu, Director of Digital Participation (SCVO)
“We are proud to be part of a broad reaching partnership, where organisations and authorities across Scotland are all pulling together, to build a digital nation which can take its place on the world stage” Brendan Dick, Director, BT Scotland
The Highlands and Islands Project A total of £146 million pounds is being invested in the Highlands and Islands fibre broadband programme, which is a partnership between the Scottish Government, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) and BT. £126.4 million is being contributed by public bodies (Scottish Government, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Highland and Islands Enterprise and all seven local authorities that form part of the project area) and £19.4 million is being contributed by BT. The rugged terrain and scattered population in the Highlands and Islands create significant challenges. The area covers some 15,000 square miles – but has one of the lowest population densities in Europe. Moray, the most densely populated part of the Highlands and Islands, has only 39 people per square kilometre and Western Isles has only nine people per square kilometre. This makes Highlands and Islands by far the most challenging fibre broadband project to be undertaken anywhere in the UK. Openreach, BT’s local network division, which provides and maintains the infrastructure used by more than 500 service providers, is installing more
than 400km of subsea cabling over 20 crossings to the islands. This is the largest subsea cabling project ever undertaken through BT! 84% of premises in the Highlands and Islands will have access to high speed fibre broadband by the end of 2016. This is estimated to be around four times the number of premises that would have had access to fibre broadband, if this exciting partnership programme had not taken place.
Rest of Scotland Project This £264 million project is bringing fibre broadband to all those areas of Scotland (outside of the Highlands and Islands) that were not covered by commercial roll out plans. This is made up of £157 million from public sources (Scottish Government, European Regional Development Fund, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and all 27 local authorities that form part of the Rest of Scotland Project area), together with £106.7 million from BT.
local authorities have chosen to further supplement their funding, boosting the level of investment by an additional £50.65 million. The local authorities that have made additional contributions are: Aberdeenshire, Angus, Clackmannanshire, Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire, Fife, Midlothian, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Perth and Kinross, Scottish Borders, South Ayrshire, Stirling and West Lothian. Through working in partnership, the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband initiative is building a future-proof high speed fibre infrastructure that will enable Scotland to become a world class digital nation by 2020.
The wider Digital Scotland Partnership is helping everyone make the most of the opportunities.
This ambitious project will ensure that around 95% of homes and businesses in Scotland have access to fibre broadband by the end of 2017.. Scotland’s local authorities are jointly contributing £40 million to the programme as a whole. However, fourteen of those
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A Great Opportunity for Internet Service Providers Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband is bringing fibre broadband to around 95% of Scotland by the end of 2017. This creates a terrific market building opportunity for Internet Service Providers. This is the most ambitious fibre broadband infrastructure project in the whole of Europe and it will bring huge social and economic benefits to Scotland. But we cannot do it without you. Together, we can get the message out to households and businesses about the incredible benefits of fibre broadband and get Scotland connected. To ‘switch on’ Scotland, we all have to work in partnership. Internet Service Providers have an important role to play alongside the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme, helping make sure that everyone in Scotland can make the most of fibre broadband.
Fibre broadband offers you a chance to increase revenue through new orders, upgrades and additional services. It provides you with an opportunity to add value to existing customers and attract new ones. Really, the possibilities are endless.
At Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband, we would love to work closely with you. The more closely we work in partnership, the better we can co-ordinate our activities to make sure that we all make the most of this ‘once in a generation’ opportunity.
Throughout the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme, we will be keeping Internet Service Providers up to date through: • Regular webcasts – with guest speakers and deployment updates • Email newsletters • Access to the latest information on the plans for the fibre roll out • Advance information about community events and marketing, so that we can co-ordinate our activity to promote fibre broadband
This is a real win-win for the people of Scotland and Internet Service Providers. You can also check our interactive map at: www.digitalscotland.org/whereandwhen to find out where fibre broadband is available. To ensure you have access to weekly deployment reports and service updates, please register as a customer at:
www.btwholesale.com or www.openreach.co.uk
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So what is Fibre Optic Broadband? Fibre broadband is the fastest and most reliable broadband connection available in the world today. Ok, let’s talk tech. Fibre optic uses tiny thin strands of glass (or plastic) to transmit massive amounts of information as pulses of light over long distances. Fibre optic has a whole load of benefits over copper wire, which is what has been used in telephone lines to deliver broadband services up until now. Because fibre optic has so many advantages over copper, all future telecommunications services will be based on fibre. Compared to copper, fibre optic is:
Faster:
Safer:
With download speeds of up to 80 Mbps (and even up to 330 Mbps in some places), fibre broadband can transform your internet experience, expand your horizons and change the way you live, work and play.
It uses light, which means there is no electrical current being passed through fibre optic cabling, only light. Because of this, there is no heat and no fire hazard
More effective:
Longer lasting:
Fibre does not lose the signal over distance and so it can carry more information over longer distances.
Fibre is future proof and the network that is being installed now will last for decades to come. This is a ‘once in a generation’ investment.
More reliable:
Thin and light:
Unlike copper, does not suffer from electro–magnetic interference and is immune to corrosion, so you can rely on clearer communications.
So it is easier to handle and install.
What is ‘Fibre to the Cabinet’ and ‘Fibre to the Premises’?
It’s fast, but is it superfast?
There are two ways to deliver fibre optic broadband services, both of which will be available in Scotland: fibre-to-the-cabinet and fibre-to-the-premises. This may sound like jargon, but actually it’s very simple. These names just describe the way they deliver high speed broadband service to you. The former provides fibre to the cabinet which later finds its way to your home, whereas the latter supplies the connection directly to your doorstep.
‘Superfast’ speeds are defined as broadband speeds of over 24Mbps. If you are on a FTTC connection and you are further away from the cabinet, you may get speeds of between 2-24Mbps. Although these are not technically ‘superfast’ speeds, even these speeds will provide faster broadband for the vast majority of premises in Scotland, and will make a huge difference to your internet experience.
Fibre to the Cabinet This is sometimes shortened to FTTC. The fibre optic cabling runs from the telephone exchange to a local cabinet. These are the green boxes which you may have noticed by the side of the road. Your copper telephone line is then used to deliver the last leg of this service and run between the cabinet and your own premises. This combination of fibre optic and copper can deliver speeds of up to 80Mbps for downloads. The maximum speed you will actually get depends very much on how far away from the cabinet you are.
Fibre
Exchange
Copper
Cabinet
Premises
Fibre to the Premises This is sometimes shortened to FTTP. At the cutting edge of superfast broadband technology, this is when fibre optic cable runs directly from the exchange right into your premises. Fibre to premises can deliver download speeds of up to a blistering 330Mbps.
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Fibre
Exchange
Premises The choice of delivery method is a delicate balance between speed, cost and coverage. Our goal is to make the best use of the available funding to bring high speed fibre broadband to as many people as possible.
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Turning Scotland into a World Class Digital Nation Digital Scotland is an ambitious and wide reaching programme that is right at the heart of the Scottish Government’s vision for the future of our country. By 2020, the aim is that Scotland will be a world class digital nation. By this, we mean that Scotland will have the infrastructure, the skills and the confidence to really make the most of the exciting new opportunities created by high speed digital connectivity. There are four main aims. To help deliver these four aims, there are a huge number of activities and programmes happening right across Scotland.
We want everyone in Scotland to be able to connect to the best digital technology and to have the skills and confidence to use it, whether at home, work or on the move.
1
We want our businesses to take full advantage of fibre broadband, so as to become more competitive and reach out to new customers worldwide. This will create jobs and opportunities for great careers in Scotland.
2
These include everything from high level business skills training to ‘taster’ sessions in local libraries, designed to help complete beginners get confident in using digital technology. The Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband infrastructure project will be a massive step forward, towards making Digital Scotland a reality.
We want to encourage innovation and the growth of creative businesses within the digital sector.
3
4
We want to be a magnet for inward investment. Scotland’s blend of world class digital infrastructure, world class digital skills and outstanding quality of life will make an attractive proposition and we want to encourage businesses to relocate or set up here.
A Digital Scotland is coming closer every day...
“The Scottish ICT sector is healthy and vibrant. It employs 73,000 people and makes a direct contribution of £3 billion per annum to the Scottish economy”
“Supporting Scotland’s 340,000 businesses to fully exploit the benefits of digital technologies requires concerted, joined up action across all sectors of our economy” Scotland’s Digital Future
Scotland’s Digital Future
“Scotland has a long track record of attracting high quality technology jobs. This continues to this day, with recent successes including Amazon, Avaloq, HP and Wipro, projecting almost 3000 jobs” Scotland’s Digital Future
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