More funding needed to meet Scottish fibre broadband targets

Additional funds will be necessary if Scotland is to reach its target of bringing fibre optic broadband to 95 per cent of premises by 2018.

John Sweeney, who is the Finance Secretary for the Scottish government, made his concerns clear to MSPs after he claimed the sums regarding the rollout project did not add up.

The organisation responsible for monitoring the project Highlands and Islands Enterprise says that the initial objective of bringing superfast speeds to 84 per cent of homes and businesses by 2016 is on track, but financial constraints mean it will be unlikely coverage can go beyond this in the proceeding two years.

Government Deputy Director for Digital Strategy and Programmes Colin Cook revealed that service provider BT remains confident it will hit the 2018 target - based on the success of rollouts elsewhere in the UK.

But he did concede the funds needed to connect the final 11 per cent of premises involved in the project are not currently in place.

He admitted: "There will be regions of the country and local authority areas that will be beneath that target on current projections."