60,000 Fife homes and business can connect to some of Europe’s fastest broadband

Openreach’s £240m ultrafast broadband build will also extend its network into rural parts of the region this year.

Across the Kingdom, a third of local properties, including more than 2500 businesses, are among those passed by the new ultrafast network. The digital network’s superfast broadband is also available to 95 per cent of local homes and business premises.

Full fibre is up to 10 times faster than the average home broadband connection and around five times more reliable than the old copper-based network it’s replacing.

Around 30 per cent of Scottish households and businesses have moved over to the new network in the areas where it’s available.

Ivan McKee, Scottish Government Business Minister, said: “This is a vital part of our national infrastructure, helping people to work remotely and helping support a greener society.”

Katie Milligan, Openreach chief commercial officer and chair of its Scotland board, said: “Full fibre is the best way to provide ultrafast, ultra-reliable internet to millions of Scots.

“Our superfast broadband is already available to most people in Scotland, but ultrafast full fibre is the future. It gives businesses, families and home-workers all the data they’ll ever need and provides the ultimate online experience at great value for money.”

The Openreach network offers the widest choice of providers, such as BT, Sky, TalkTalk, Vodafone and Zen. Upgrades aren’t automatic but once people place an order with their provider engineers will do the rest.