More than 3,400 homes and businesses in Stirling’s Eastern Villages can now access full-fibre broadband following the completion of a £5 million network rollout. Connections capable of delivering speeds of up to 2Gbps have been installed across Cowie, Fallin, Plean, Throsk and Bandeath Business Park.
The eight-month project was led by Lothian Broadband Networks, which operates the Highland Broadband and Lothian Broadband brands. Stirling Council contributed £100,000 through its Rural Broadband Infrastructure Programme, with further financial support coming from the Scottish Government, the Scottish National Investment Bank and Building Digital UK.
Throsk and Bandeath Business Park formed the final phase of the rollout. Their completion closes another local gap in Scotland’s full-fibre coverage, bringing substantially faster connections to communities where the cost and practical difficulty of building new infrastructure had previously held back upgrades.
Image credit: Stirling Council
Stirling is best known for the iconic Stirling Castle, standing watch over the town for more than 900 years
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Projects of this kind matter because rural and semi-rural communities are often among the last places commercial networks choose to upgrade. Fewer properties spread over a wider area make each connection more expensive to build, leaving otherwise viable communities stuck with older broadband for longer.
Stirling Council says the new network should support home working, education and local businesses, as well as attracting investment and creating jobs. A social tariff will also be available, giving households on lower incomes a cheaper route onto the new service rather than leaving faster broadband available only to those who can comfortably afford it.
The Eastern Villages rollout is part of Stirling Council’s wider Rural Broadband Programme, which has already helped bring faster connections to 11 communities and business parks. These include Balquhidder, Carron Valley, Aberfoyle, Thornhill and Manor Farm Business Park. Lothian Broadband Networks says it intends to continue expanding into underserved parts of Scotland, building on its existing coverage across East Lothian, Fife, Stirling and the Highlands.
