Murdo Fraser MSP has said the SNP Government have let down residents in Mid Scotland and Fife with their “painfully slow” roll-out of their flagship R100 broadband programme.
The politician was commenting following data provided to the Scottish Conservatives through Freedom of Information which showed that as of November 30, 2023, a total of 17,751 properties in Mid Scotland and Fife are expected to benefit through both the R100 and North contracts. However, the SNP Government has confirmed that to date, only 5,160 of those connections have been delivered.
Commenting, Mr Fraser said: “The data provided by the SNP Government reveals that they are well behind with their roll-out of their superfast broadband in Mid Scotland and Fife. The SNP Government has identified more than 17,000 properties in the region that are expected to have the superfast broadband installed but the number that actually have the service is just over 5,000, which is very poor indeed.
“A large part of my mail inbox comes from constituents who either have poor broadband or are waiting on broadband being installed, so these figures tie in with that. This is yet another example of a broken promise by the SNP Government. Former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon promised in the SNP manifesto back in 2016 that the R100 broadband programme would deliver ‘100% superfast broadband connection to every home and business’ in Scotland by Spring 2021. That promise certainly has not aged well.”
Mr Fraser continued: “It really is not good enough that many residents living in Mid Scotland and Fife still experience a poor broadband service. This data shows the SNP Government have let these residents down with their painfully slow roll-out of their flagship R100 broadband programme.
“With more and more people and businesses working from home these days, it is vital that they have access to superfast broadband – broadband that they can rely on. It is blatantly obvious that the SNP’s R100 broadband programme will take years to complete, which is not good enough.”
