BT plc is the Scottish Government’s preferred bidder to deliver the superfast broadband programme, known as R100, to the North Region of Scotland.
The Minister for Energy, Connectivity and the Islands today announced: “BT plc has been selected as the preferred bidder for the north lot of the R100 procurement, and that, subject to due diligence and further governance, we intend to proceed to contract with BT as soon as possible. This is further to my announcement on 10 October, in which I outlined that BT plc was the sole bidder for the central and south lots of the R100 procurement.”
Following the announcement, Edward Mountain MSP commented:
“After much dither and delay, we now know that the Scottish Government has chosen BT to deliver their R100 superfast broadband programme for homes and businesses in the Highlands and Islands.
I welcome the announcement today but this does not mean that construction can get underway immediately. Highlanders still have a long time to wait yet and there is very little chance everyone will have reliable internet before 2025.
Indeed, it has already been made clear by the Scottish Government that not all homes and businesses will be connected to fibre broadband and some will have to rely on satellite instead.
I am pressing the Scottish Government to ensure that premises connected by satellite and other means are not disadvantaged with excessive internet costs.”