More premises across East Dunbartonshire can now upgrade to faster fibre broadband through the £428 million Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband rollout.

Thanks to the programme, more than 14,230 East Dunbartonshire premises are now able to connect to the Digital Scotland network, with more coverage being rolled out in Bearsden, Bishopbriggs, Lennoxtown and Milngavie.

Work is ongoing, with Openreach engineers continuing work on the ground into 2019. Across Scotland, nearly 920,000 premises are now able to connect to fibre broadband through the programme.

Local people need to sign up for the new, faster services with an internet service provider, as upgrades are not automatic.

Delivered through two projects – led by Highlands and Islands Enterprise in its area and the Scottish Government in the rest of Scotland – funding partners include the UK Government through Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK), BT Group, local authorities and the EU via the European Regional Development Fund.

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Whether you own a business, work from home or want to keep in touch with friends and family, fibre broadband enables multiple users to connect to the internet at high speeds. Most of the Digital Scotland deployment uses Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC) technology, at speeds of up to 80Mbps.

Councillor Billy Hendry, Convener of the Place, Neighbourhood and Corporate Assets Committee at East Dunbartonshire Council, said: "I am delighted that more areas across East Dunbartonshire can access fibre broadband thanks to the programme and more people are now able to get a superfast speed. Whether you are downloading a box set or just keeping in touch with friends, fibre broadband can make it all happen easily. For small businesses making transactions, this is great news."

Sara Budge, Programme Director for Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband, said: "It's fantastic news that the programme has been able to benefit residents and businesses in and around East Dunbartonshire.

"Thanks to additional investment as a result of innovation and new funding generated by stronger than expected take-up, the programme will deliver new DSSB deployment in every local authority area during 2018 and into 2019, complementing ongoing commercial build across Scotland."

Robert Thorburn, Partnership Director for Openreach in Scotland, said: "The Digital Scotland project and our hard-working engineers have delivered more coverage across the country at faster speeds than expected.

"We're proud to be a partner in helping East Dunbartonshire communities to reach their digital potential. We know there's more to be done, and we're committed to doing all we can with partners to bring better broadband to everyone."