Rural Scottish telephone exchanges to be upgraded to improve broadband services

Improvements being made to telephone exchanges in Scotland will be extended to rural areas of the country to ensure the delivery of faster broadband services.

Brendan Dick, director of BT Scotland, said more than 70 rural communities throughout the country will benefit from upgrades to their nearest exchanges that could result in faster broadband connections.

Higher broadband speeds can result in quicker download times and more efficient use of applications such as VoIP solutions.

Enterprise minister Jim Mather said: "Upgrading these telephone exchanges will enable even more people to benefit from a broadband service which people in most areas of Scotland already enjoy."

Fast broadband speeds are more difficult to deliver in rural areas as connection quality deteriorates the further the customer is based from the exchange.

The government in Westminster is considering technology such as wireless networks and even satellite systems to help include remote communities in its universal connectivity scheme.