PUPILS from Benarty Primary School, in Lochore, were superfast in finding out the benefits of fibre broadband when the Digital Scotland Fibre Showcase paid them a visit this week.

More than 800 households and businesses across Benarty can now access high-speed fibre services thanks to the £428 million Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband project.

Local people need to sign up for the new, faster services with an internet service provider, as upgrades are not automatic.

During the visit, pupils learned through interactive activities about fibre broadband and how it’s delivered. The local premises are among more than 745,000 homes and businesses across Scotland which are now able to access fibre broadband through the Digital Scotland rollout, led by the Scottish Government.

Other local areas which have coverage thanks to the programme include Ballingry, Dundonald, Lower Largo, Earlsferry, Kingsbarns and parts of Burntisland, building on commercial upgrades there. More coverage will follow as engineers from Openreach, BT’s local network business, continue work on the ground.

Fibre broadband offers fast and reliable broadband connections at speeds of up to 80Mbps* and there are many suppliers in the marketplace to choose from.

Whether you own a business, work from home or want to keep in touch with friends and family, fibre broadband enables multiple users to connect to the internet at high speeds and get better, faster access to online services.

Lee-Anne McAulay, Headteacher at Benarty Primary School, said: “It was great to have the Digital Scotland team visit our school this week, it was a fantastic opportunity for our pupils to see the amount of hard engineering work that’s involved in connecting up communities to fibre broadband.

"It also showed our pupils how beneficial it would be when it comes to their school work and various other aspects of their home life.”

Sara Budge, Programme Director for Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband, said: “It’s great news that many residents and businesses in and around Benarty are now able to receive fibre broadband thanks to the programme, with more local coverage to follow.

“I also hope that all the children at the school enjoyed visiting our Digital Scotland Fibre Showcase and found it insightful in finding out what fibre broadband can provide and how it’s delivered.”

Robert Thorburn, BT Scotland’s Fibre Broadband Director, added:

“We’d like to thank Benarty Primary School for having us – it’s great that local pupils were able to get an insight into how high-speed technology powers the internet and learn about a very positive side to a career in engineering.”