The first 100 homes and businesses on Jura can now order fast, more reliable broadband, made possible by joint voucher funding from the UK and Scottish governments.
Openreach’s new full fibre network means people will be able to connect multiple devices at gigabit-capable speeds and support businesses for decades to come.
More properties will be able to upgrade before Christmas, as engineers continue work on the ground on the island’s full fibre network. Around 200 will benefit in total.
Islanders used the UK Government’s Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme1 and the Scottish Government’s Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme, alongside standard funding from Openreach, to help fund the digital transformation.
Residents will be able to access a host of online services and entertainment, with seamless streaming and smooth online gaming. The technology also supports day-to-day business critical tasks like video calls, banking and online trade and contact with customers.
Robert Thorburn, Openreach Partnership Director for Scotland, said: “Islanders have worked with us to make this upgrade a success, so it’s great that around half the population can now upgrade to full fibre broadband.”
The rollout of ultrafast full fibre on Jura builds on earlier investment in two new 4G masts at Craighouse and Ardlussa, which saw fibre links installed on the island by Openreach as part of the Scottish Government’s S4GI programme.
Subsea cables between Ormsary in Argyll and Bute, Jura and Islay were laid as part of the earlier Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband subsea programme, led by Highlands & Islands Enterprise and also delivered by Openreach.
You can visit openreach.co.uk/ultrafastfullfibre to register for updates and check your postcode to see if and when services are available from a chosen provider.
Caption: The UK government’s Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme (GBVS) can help people in hard-to-reach communities upgrade their broadband connections.
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