Almost £18m funding is being made available to accelerate high speed broadband roll-out for Scotland’s rural communities.

The early benefit comes from the success of the Scottish Government-backed £410m Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) programme, which has now reached over 365,000 homes and businesses from the Shetland Isles to Dumfries and Galloway.

The announcement comes as the Scottish Cabinet visit Ullapool in the Highlands. Ministers will carry out a number of visits in and around the town today ahead of a Cabinet meeting and public discussion.

The current programme brings together public and BT funding to go further with fibre broadband to areas that would not be reached by commercial investment alone. It will result in 85% of premises in Scotland with access to high speed fibre broadband by the end of March 2016 and 95% by the end of 2017.

The contract between the Scottish Government, BT and Highlands and Islands Enterprise included a “gain share” clause to claw back funding if the project reached agreed take up levels, which it is on track to exceed.

Speaking ahead of the Ullapool Cabinet meeting, Deputy First Minister, John Swinney, said:

“Today my Cabinet colleagues and I are visiting Ullapool, which is exactly the kind of place that will benefit hugely from this improvement to our digital infrastructure. Improved connectivity is a major priority for the Scottish Government, and a boost like this will allow the continued roll-out of this technology to an even greater number of rural areas.

“We are working with BT to ensure that our investment in the DSSB programme extends coverage as far as possible; while, at the same time, getting clarity on which areas won’t be reached. This will allow these communities to work with Community Broadband Scotland to explore alternative solutions in parallel with DSSB roll-out.

“We are now seeing huge strides forward in transforming the future of connectivity for Scotland’s rural communities and businesses, many of which would never have seen these kinds of connections through the commercial market.

“This is another major step towards creating an infrastructure capable of supporting world class connectivity across Scotland by 2020.”