BT boss states confidence at Scottish fibre broadband plans

BT's managing director of next-generation access Bill Murphy has expressed confidence in the Scottish government's ability to deliver its fibre optic broadband plans.

Scotland has been allocated £68.8 million by the Conservative-led coalition to achieve its aim of rolling out super-fast broadband to 90 per cent of homes and businesses across the UK.

Speaking to Scotland on Sunday, Mr Murphy said he hosted a meeting for BT Scotland director Brendan Dick and Scottish MPs back in January, at a time when he held concerns that the country was lagging behind with its fibre broadband progress.

However, he revealed: "Since the election in May, the SNP has really moved forward on broadband and I no longer have those concerns."

BT's fibre optic broadband service currently offers speeds of up to 100Mbps, although the majority of properties with access to the technology receive up to 40Mbps download rates.

In contrast, the bulk of Scottish homes are connected to copper broadband with speeds of around 2Mbps.