Superfast broadband will make ‘a big, big difference’ when it is available on the Rosneath Peninsula, a meeting heard last week.
Stephen Chambers of BT told Cove and Kilcreggan Community Council that the peninsula should have the fibre optic cable by the end of the year.
“We are looking to this area to be live hopefully, fingers crossed, by June to December this year,” he said
“It will offer speeds of up to 80Mbps. It depends how far away from the exchange you are, but it will be better than it is now.”
He said in Cardross, the only part of Argyll and Bute to have the coverage so far, one household had seen speeds increase from 3Mbps to 60 Mbps.
Current broadband speeds on the peninsula are meant to be 20Mbps, he said but one community councillor said it was as low as 1.5 currently.
The new service is likely to cost between £5 and £10 extra per month, but Mr Chambers said many customers would not actually have to pay more because they had not changed their contract recently so a lower tariff might be available.
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are lilkely to contact households when the new service becomes available, and anyone interested would be sent a new hub by their ISP – BT are providing the fibre cable which will allow the speed to be available, but it is up to households to make arrangements with their provider.
The project aims for 95% coverage across Scotland and Cllr George Freeman said the north part of Cove was under investigation and it could be connected later than the rest of the area.
Mr Chambers recommended residents to visit the OFCOM website for a fair comparison of prices, while this link to the registration page on the Digital Scotland website will allow people to sign up to receive newsletters and other updates.
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