Midlothian is in the heart of east-central Scotland, and is closely linked to the capital city economy. With a host of food and drink, tourism, business and retail offer, it really is a great place to live, work and visit.
Midlothian offers the perfect blend of urban and rural living, and green transport links to the capital and beyond. The Borders Railway connects Eskbank (Dalkeith), Newtongrange, Gorebridge and Shawfair to Edinburgh and the south.
The area is strategically linked to the A1 corridor, connecting Edinburgh to the Scottish Borders and the north of England. The M8 links Midlothian to Glasgow and the west of Scotland, and the M90 to Perth and the north. The A68, A7, A701, A702 and the A720 link to the north, south, west and east.
Midlothian is near to Edinburgh International Airport, and Glasgow Airport is just 1.5 hours away, providing strong freight links and connection to major international markets.
High Speed Digital Connectivity
Over 98% of Midlothian premises (nearly 9,000) have access to broadband speeds of 24Mbps or more. That will increase as initiatives such as the Scottish Government’s Reaching 100 (R100) programme roll-out.
Superfast Broadband Vouchers are here!
The Scottish Government has launched the Superfast Broadband Voucher Scheme (SBVS) as part of their Reaching 100% (R100) commitment to ensure that every address in Scotland has the ability to access a Superfast Broadband connection.
The SBVS will provide the following subsidy:
- A voucher worth up to £5,000 to help deliver a permanent broadband connection to those properties for which there is no roll-out of superfast broadband planned.
In some cases, rural addresses may be eligible to combine Scottish Government funding of up to £5,000 with funding from the UK Government’s Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme (GBVS) which provides £1,500 for rural homes and £3,500 for rural businesses. If this is the case, chosen suppliers take this into account automatically and manage this on your behalf.
Group projects are also possible for both schemes when two or more residents or businesses get together to combine their vouchers towards the cost of connections. In Scotland, the approved supplier acting on behalf of the group will apply for the GBVS funding or the SBVS funding on the group’s behalf.
What to do Next
- Check the online address checker to see whether your address already has the ability to connect to a Superfast Broadband service, if it is currently scheduled for R100 deployment, or if the address is eligible for the voucher scheme.
- If the address is eligible for either voucher scheme the next step is to choose a supplier. The supplier will be able to manage the process and check whether the GBVS can also be leveraged. The SBVS list of suppliers is available here (see page 10 for suppliers currently covering Midlothian)
- You must then choose an Internet Service Provider to supply Superfast Broadband. A range of Ofcom accredited price comparison sites can be found here.
Further questions?
For any other queries relating to digital connectivity in Midlothian please refer to the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband FAQ page, or contact Business Gateway Midlothian if you have any other queries.