SCOTTISH RURAL economy and connectivity secretary Fergus Ewing has promised that 100% of Scottish properties will have access to superfast broadband by 2021.

Commenting on the publication of Audit Scotland’s 'Superfast Broadband for Scotland – A Progress Report', Mr Ewing said: “Broadband and mobile coverage are of vital importance to many aspects of rural life and the rural economy and we are working hard to continue to improve both.

“With this in mind, I welcome the Audit Scotland report, which outlines the good progress we are making in widening the access to high-speed broadband and confirms that 86% of premises across Scotland now have access to fibre broadband – 1% more than our original target.

"However, we also recognise that there is much more we can do at a Scotland-level to extend coverage, particularly to rural areas. That is why we have made the commitment that 100% of properties across Scotland will be able to access superfast broadband by 2021 and I will outline next steps later this year.”