Villages Get Connected

Superfast broadband is coming to thousands of homes and businesses in Fife.

BT's latest roll-out will cover Cairneyhill, Auchtermuchty, Kettlebridge, Kingskettle, Pitlessie and Dunshalt.

The company says 2,600 properties will benefit from speeds of up to 80 megabytes per second.

It's part of a £410million Scotland-wide initiative.

Anyone in the local community who is interested in finding out how fibre broadband works and the benefits it can provide can go along to a special drop-in event either at the Ladybank Library, Commercial Road, between 10.30am and 12.30pm,at the Auchtermuchty Library, High Street, between 2pm and 4pm on Thursday, February 19. Meanwhile, there is also an event at The Stewart Trust Hall, Northbank Road, between 10.30am and 2.20pm on Wednesday for those in Cairneyhill.

The Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme aims to provide fibre broadband infrastructure to parts of Scotland not included in commercial providers’ investment plans. Combined with current commercial roll-out plans, 85 per cent of premises in Scotland will have access to fibre broadband by the end of 2015/16 and around 95 per cent by the end of 2017/18.

Lesley Laird, Deputy Leader and Executive Spokesperson for Economy and Planning for Fife Council, said: “It’s really exciting to hear that so many residences in Cairneyhill are already able to connect to fibre broadband. It’s good to see this project reaching more communities in our area, contributing towards the aim of connecting most of our homes and businesses to fibre broadband. With the events in Auchtermuchty and Ladybank, we hope to have a good turn-out and demonstrate to our residents, and other surrounding communities, the huge benefits which fibre broadband can provide.”

Sara Budge, Programme Director for Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband,

said: “It’s great news that many residents and businesses in and around these villages are now able to receive fibre broadband thanks to the programme, with more local coverage to follow. The difference that fibre broadband can make is amazing, giving much more flexibility whether it’s at work or in the home. I hope that local residents will come along to the events to get an understanding of the boost they can expect from a fast fibre broadband connection.”

Brendan Dick, BT Scotland director, said: “Hundreds of Fifers now have access to their best ever broadband speeds, and more will follow. As the fibre network extends across Fife, making the most of it is vital. This is a great opportunity for local people and businesses to find out how they could benefit by signing up for high-speed broadband with their service provider.”