Broadband upgrade will not ‘neglect’ rural areas

Published on Friday 3 February 2012 00:00

Rural areas will not be pushed to the end of the queue for improvements to broadband connections, a Scottish Government minister has said.

The pledge by infrastructure secretary Alex Neil was made in a Holyrood debate yesterday on the roll-out of superfast broadband across the country.

Asked to reassure those in remote areas, such as the north Highlands, Mr Neil said: “I can absolutely confirm it is a key part of the government’s approach to this that rural areas and remote rural areas will not, by the fact they are remote, be left to the tail-end of this process.

“In fact, if you look at the proportionate benefits that will be gained by remote rural areas, they are proportionately greater than some more urban and central areas because they are starting from a lower base and therefore the improvement will be even greater.”

Mr Neil said he wanted Scotland to lead the world in broadband connectivity.

Earlier this week, Consumer Focus Scotland said broadband speeds could be five times as fast by 2015 if the Scottish Government met its commitments.

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