An Audit Scotland report has concluded that it would be ‘difficult’ to deliver the R100 programme for every home and business to have access to speeds of 30 mbps by the end of 2021.
The auditors stated that ‘it is not yet clear’ how the SNP Government is going to fulfil its pledge to deliver superfast broadband to 100% of premises by the end of that year.
The report highlighted that the Scottish Borders consistently performed poorly on broadband provision and speeds, with the area being the second worst in Scotland for average broadband speeds, behind Shetland, and second only to the Orkney Islands.
Whilst overall connection speeds have increased across Scotland, around a quarter of rural areas still cannot receive 10 Mb/s.
Commenting on the report, Rachael Hamilton MSP said:
“Businesses and residents in my constituency know first-hand the problems of accessing fast and reliable broadband.
“The SNP claim to be delivering superfast broadband to all, we know this simply isn’t the case and they are trying to pull the wool over Borderers' eyes.
“Audit Scotland have laid bare the issues of slow broadband speeds; the SNP cannot run away from the facts.
“We know that the R100 programme completion date has already been pushed back by 12 months, and, with the findings of this report, I am unsure as to whether they can actually deliver what they promising.
“I am glad the report highlights the work of the UK Government on the Borderlands Deal business case which includes telecoms infrastructure investment”.