HUNDREDS more homes and businesses across Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire are now able to connect to high-speed fibre broadband.

Communities in Johnstone, Renfrew, Paisley, Barrhead, Giffnock and Uplawmoor are among those to benefit from the £428 million Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme.

Most of the latest local connections to be upgraded were previously ‘Exchange Only’ (EO) lines - an historic legacy of the copper network once thought to be out of the reach of high-speed fibre services.

Such lines run directly from the exchange to homes and business premises, bypassing the usual roadside cabinets which are a vital part of the fibre roll-out.

Engineers worked out an innovative way to integrate these lines into the fibre network, laying hundreds of metres of new cables to reroute lines through extra roadside cabinets.

However, people need to sign up with an internet service provider, as upgrades are not automatic.

Fibre broadband offers fast and reliable broadband connections at speeds of up to 80Mbps.

Fergus Ewing, Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy and Connectivity, said: “More than 90 per cent of Scotland now has fibre broadband available, thanks to both the programme and commercial coverage.

“The Scottish Government is committed to delivering 100 per cent superfast broadband access across Scotland by 2021 and plans are currently being developed to ensure that this is the case.

“During the summer months, our existing programme will continue to advance across the country, bringing high-speed broadband to new rural communities.”

Robert Thorburn, BT Scotland’s fibre broadband director, added: “The Digital Scotland fibre roll-out has continued to make good progress over the last six months.

“Thanks to engineering innovation, thousands of people on lines once thought to be incapable of carrying a superfast service are now able to upgrade to higher speeds.

“And with strong take-up rates set to drive the reinvestment of millions of pounds back into the network, we look forward to continuing work on this huge and challenging infrastructure project to benefit the people of Scotland.”

People can visit the website at www.scotlandsuperfast.com to find out if they can get a fibre-based service.