Rural broadband project secures £50m new investment

Highland Broadband plans to extend its network to more than 150 towns and villages across Scotland

A company installing an ultra-fast fibre broadband network across rural parts of Scotland has secured £50m of new investment.

Highland Broadband has received £40m from investment management firm AlphaReal and £10m from the Scottish government-owned Scottish National Investment Bank.

The company, which has bases in Edinburgh and Inverness, first started its work in the Lothians in 2015 before later expanding into the Highlands, Fife and around Stirling.

It said the new investment would help it to extend its reach to more than 150 towns and villages in the coming year.

Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes has welcomed the funding.

On a visit to Grantown-on-Spey, she said: "This is a significant success story for Scotland.

"The roll-out of Highland Broadband's network has made a real difference to people and businesses in rural areas, supporting jobs and boosting economic growth."

'Digitally isolated'

Earlier this year, the UK government said "digitally isolated" communities would be connected to fast, reliable broadband.

It has been working with the Scottish government to roll out improvements across Scotland.

The £157m contract with telecoms firm Openreach was awarded under the UK government's Project Gigabit.

Households and businesses in Skye, Islay, Tiree, Applecross, Durness were to be offered gigabit-capable broadband.

The UK government said the locations had some of the slowest broadband speeds.