Scotland's Full Fibre Charter: GoFibre case study

Scotland’s Full Fibre Charter consists of a series of pledges to help extend full fibre broadband across Scotland.

One of our more recent signatories to the Charter is GoFibre, the trading name for Borderlink Broadband, a Scottish independent broadband builder and provider founded in Duns in the Scottish Borders in 2017. Their goal is to bring high-quality digital connectivity to homes and businesses in rural, harder-to-reach communities across Scotland.

GoFibre signed up to the Charter in April 2022 along with Cloudnet, Hyperoptic, Lothian Broadband Group and Virgin Media 02 – joining Axione, CityFibre and Openreach.

Signatories to the Full Fibre Charter commit to accelerating the delivery of full fibre networks to all of Scotland. This means rolling out fibre networks further and faster so that communities and businesses in harder-to-reach areas can fully benefit from the digital economy, and the growth and opportunity this brings for the future. 

Embracing the digital age 

When they first registered as a supplier to the Scottish Government’s Reaching 100% Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (R100 SBVS), GoFibre was delivering publicly funded wireless broadband connections in the Scottish Borders. Since then, GoFibre has grown significantly and moved into commercial full fibre delivery in several locations across Scotland – with a focus on remote, underserved areas. 

Currently, GoFibre’s full fibre network serves consumer and business customers across 14 rural and market town locations in Scotland, including Aberdeenshire, Fife, East Lothian and the Scottish Borders. This means almost 50,000 premises can now access full fibre connections, many of which could only access Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC) or other copper-based solutions prior to GoFibre’s network rollout. 

A notable proportion of the 50,000 premises now covered by GoFibre’s network - approximately 4,000 - are small and regional businesses.

Scotland’s Full Fibre Charter recognises that access to high-speed digital connectivity builds resilience and enables businesses to grow, helping to develop places where people want to live, work and visit - creating jobs and protecting livelihoods across Scotland. 

One business to benefit from GoFibre’s network rollout is Laughing Ducks Soft Play – a family-run business based in Coldstream in the Scottish Borders.

Owners Anna and Jon Standing said:

“Prior to signing up with GoFibre, we relied on a copper connection, and we were forced to use 4G as a back-up for the business, but even then, that kept crashing, affecting our ability to run the business. 

“We now have the 100Mbps full fibre broadband package with phone. We had no disruption as we were able to keep our business phone number which was vital for us when considering changing supplier. The service really does work fantastically alongside each of our online business functions. After all, it’s a digital age and GoFibre has allowed us to embrace it.” 

Future-proofing Scotland’s economy 

High quality digital connectivity is central to building a thriving and resilient Scottish economy. The recent coronavirus crisis served to accelerate our reliance on digital connectivity, with new and creative ways of using digital technology emerging in all walks of life, not least within Scotland’s business sector.

The crisis also demonstrated the problems that come from digital exclusion, reinforcing the Scottish Government’s view that it is essential no one - or business - is left behind. 

Commercial operators are key partners in achieving the Scottish Government’s ambition to position Scotland at the forefront of digital connectivity. GoFibre’s contribution to extending our national full fibre network – particularly in harder to reach locations - is allowing more businesses to operate successfully, helping to futureproof Scotland’s economy for years to come.