£160m broadband boost includes East Renfrewshire and Glasgow

Openreach has targeted more urban areas to be upgraded

People living and working in 48 urban areas – including Busby, Newton Mearns, Barrhead and Pollok – are set to benefit from Openreach’s national upgrade plan.

Work will take place between now and 2026, and more details of the full list of locations and timescales available by visiting https://www.openreach.com/fibre-broadband/where-when-building-ultrafast-full-fibre-broadband

The news comes after a similar announcement last month, when 300,000 premises – in 160 mainly rural and harder to serve areas across Scotland – were also included in the build plan.

Both announcements build on Openreach’s existing work across Scotland, where more than 400,000 homes and businesses can already order ultrafast, ultra-reliable full fibre broadband.

Following a competitive tender process, a number of partners – including Morrison Telecom Services (MTS), Kier and KN Circet – were chosen by Openreach to support the Scottish upgrades.

Robert Thorburn, strategic infrastructure director for Openreach Scotland, said: "We’re reaching more communities than ever and our team of highly-skilled engineers, alongside our build partners, are working hard to deliver some of the fastest and most reliable broadband available anywhere in the world.

“Just last month we announced 160 rural and hard to reach locations across Scotland were to benefit, so it’s great that we’re able to reveal another huge broadband boost with these additional urban locations.

"Our investment and commitment to Scotland – whether it’s urban or rural – will help to underpin economic recovery, stability and a stronger, more equal society.”