'Digitally isolated' homes to get faster broadband

"Digitally isolated" communities are to be connected to fast, reliable broadband, the UK government has said.

It has been working with the Scottish government to roll out improvements across Scotland.

The latest work involves about 65,000 properties, and the £157m contract with telecoms firm Openreach is the largest so far under the UK government's Project Gigabit.

Households and businesses in Skye, Islay, Tiree, Applecross, Durness are to be offered gigabit-capable broadband.

The UK government said the locations had some of the slowest broadband speeds.

UK telecoms minister Chris Bryant said: "Digital exclusion for people living and working in hard-to-reach areas across Scotland can be a huge obstacle to living a better and healthier life."

Scottish business minister Richard Lochhead said: "This new contract brings even more investment to Scotland and we are committed to working with the UK Government and Openreach to drive efficiencies across both the R100 and Project Gigabit programmes and maximise gigabit coverage."

Under Project Gigabit, the UK government aims to provide gigabit coverage across the UK by 2030.

R100 is a Scottish government programme to connect about 113,000 properties to faster broadband.