Image source, bbc

Scottish Lib Dem MSP Mike Rumbles says he is going to give a touch of reality to the debate so far.

Mr Rumbles says his area in Aberdeenshire has a terrible broadband connection but about 18 months ago he was delighted when the road was being dug up to lay a superfast broadband cable.

He says his joy was short lived when he, and other residents realised, they weren't going to be connected to it. 

The superfast broadband line is connected to green boxes along the side of the road and the homes are connected to the phone lines, he says.

"The reality is broadband access is not being delivered to every home" as promised, he says.

Scottish Greens Co-convener Patrick Harvie says we need to recognise the profound change that is upon us.

Mr Harvie says he doesn't think events were that unpredictable over 100 years ago. 

He says human beings have always been better at imagining and inventing things than they have been at using them.

He says we haven't grasped digital participation which doesn't just mean having a connection it also means a digital rights agenda. 

Image source, SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

High-speed broadband is to be installed in an additional 360,000 homes and businesses across Scotland by the end of 2019, Virgin Media has announced.

The plans will see fibre optic broadband delivered to both urban and rural areas.

A total of 125,000 premises in areas including Kilmarnock, Ayr, Prestwick, Dunfermline, Dalgety Bay and Inverkeithing will benefit.

Virgin Media said it was part of its £3bn "Project Lightning" UK expansion

Conservative MSP Edward Mountain says Scotland has the lowest proportion of premises with access to broadband in the UK.

Mr Mountain says it is fragile rural areas that most need the broadband but who are not getting it.

He says: "The digital divide in Scotland is massive."

Image source, Getty images

More than 85% of households in Scotland now have access to fibre broadband, but reaching the remaining rural areas will be a challenge, according to a report published in August.

Audit Scotland said it expected this figure to rise to 95% by December 2017 if BT continued to meet its targets.

However, extending coverage to rural areas will require "more complicated and costly engineering solutions".

The Scottish government also has "much to do" to achieve a world class digital infrastructure by 2020, auditors said.

SNP MSP Willie Coffey says we must excite our youngsters about software design.

Mr Coffey says there will be "no end points to this, even if we think the work has been done."

Scottish Labour MSP Rhoda Grant says we are in the middle of a second enlightenment in technology.

Ms Grant says we are in an age where you can turn on your heating from your mobile phone.

She says the pace is rapid and it is important that education and training in digital skills keeps up with this.

"To be left behind would be catastrophic," she says.

Labour MSP Rhoda Grant says she would hate to point out that the deputy presiding officer's phone has gone off.

Deputy Presiding Officer Christine Grahame says: "It happens to the best of us."

Here is the Scottish Labour amendment. 

Image source, Scottish Parliament

Scottish Conservative MSP Jamie Greene shows a Daily Record paper from the year 2000 and the predictions the paper held for the new millennium.

Mr Greene says the predictions seem funny 16 years on because technology has moved much faster but we must keep pace with it he says.

"We have a generation of Scots who have had mobiles since they were five years of age," he says. 

An additional 660,000 Scottish homes and businesses can now connect to fibre broadband.

The milestone was passed with a new cabinet in Leadhills, South Lanarkshire going live, becoming the latest to be delivered through the £410 million Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) programme.

Due to efficiencies in the programme and strong fibre take-up figures, the Highlands and Islands will now see a further 6,000 premises connected in the new year – taking access to the fibre network in the region to around 86%.

Mr Greene says whilst other countries are investing in e-health in Scotland the way your receive your prescription depends on your postcode.

The Tory MSP says 30% of the Scottish population lack basic digital skills.

Scottish Conservative MSP Jamie Greene stresses the importance of universal digital participation.

Mr Greene says there are many people who struggle to get high speed internet, or indeed any internet.

The Tory MSP says the numerical targets still leave the door open for inequalities.

She says for those on low incomes buying a tablet or paying for fast broadband may not be an option.

Here is the Scottish Conservative amendment.

Image source, Scottish Parliament

Connectivity Secretary Fergus Ewing says the government are working with industry to develop programmes.

Mr Ewing says the work with industry is key.

He says there is a responsibility on the private sector to help to deliver the connectivity aspirations. 

The connectivity secretary says the government are doing what they can to deliver targets.

He says the EU referendum has brought unwelcome uncertainty.

In October last year the Scottish government published Scotland's Digital Future: A Strategy For Scotland, external

Image source, Scottish government

The strategy outlined the ambition that: 

• next generation broadband will be available to all by 2020, and significant progress will be made by 2015
• the rate of broadband uptake by people in Scotland should be at or above the UK average by 2013, and should be highest among the UK nations by 2015

Connectivity Secretary Fergus Ewing says digital has fundamentally changed how we live our lives.

Mr Ewing says the digital strategy published by the government in 2011 has served Scotland well.

The connectivity secretary says he accepts both amendments from Labour and the Conservatives.

He says he hopes there will be a constructive debate today.

Mr Ewing says an additional 660,000 houses in Scotland now have access to fibre broadband.

Here is the government motion.

Image source, Scottish Parliament