Scotland gets broadband boost

Major projects have been announced for Clackmannanshire and the Shetland Islands

Two projects have been approved for new Scottish broadband schemes in the county of Clackmannanshire and the Shetland Islands.

Clackmannanshire's bid to the Scottish Government's Rural Broadband Challenge Fund was one of only five in Scotland to be approved by Parliament last week.

It will see almost £200,000 made available to support the rollout of infrastructure to allow high-speed broadband of between 2Mbit/s and 20Mbit/s. This will be offered wirelessly as a commercial service.

"I'm delighted that our bid has been recognised as a strong one and that we've got the funding to take this forward," said Councillor Eddie Carrick, portfolio holder for sustainability. "Clackmannanshire has a great transport infrastructure that puts it at the centre of Scottish business. Now we can build an electronic infrastructure to match that."

Forth Valley and Lomond Leader local action group (LAG) led the bid and focused on the business 'not-spot' areas of the Forth Valley, using a pilot WiMax wireless broadband solution.

"The beauty of the solution is that it's not limited just to business, householders in the surrounding communities will also benefit," said Peter Sunderland, LAG chair.

Commissioning and purchase of equipment will start in the New Year and should be ready by spring 2011.

Further to this, Shetland Islands Council (SIC) has been granted state aid clearance for plans to improve the isles' broadband infrastructure.

According to the Shetland Times, the SIC is investing about £1.1m in the new Shetland Telecom venture, which has benefitted from a £367,500 European Regional Development Fund grant.

Businesses and households will benefit from the new fibre-optic broadband cable being linked between the Shetland Islands and mainland UK, and trial work should begin in mid-January.