A multi-million-pound digital connectivity contract will help speed up Perth’s ‘smart city’ ambitions.
The Tay Cities Deal – due to be signed off next week – will partially fund the £2 million contract to connect more than 30 public buildings with a 19 kilometre full fibre network.
The project, arranged by Perth and Kinross Council and designed to boost economic activity, has been awarded to Perth-based SSE Enterprise Telecoms.
The telecoms network provider said the “high speed, high capacity connectivity will benefit the entire local community, including educational institutions, council buildings, leisure centres, care homes and residential homes, as well as public buildings near to the new 3,000-site West Perth housing development”.
Funding of £1m has been made available for Perth and Kinross Council via the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport as part of the Local Full Fibre Networks Fund, which is committed to enhancing digital capabilities in the public sector.
Nearly £1m of UK Government funding for digital connectivity from the Tay Cities Deal is also being used.
Councillor Angus Forbes, convener of Perth and Kinross Council’s environment and infrastructure committee, said: “Our vision is for Perth to becomes Europe’s most sustainable small city, outlined in the Perth City Plan.
“The population of our city is growing, and we are actively promoting city-wide smart design through the provision of digital platforms and infrastructure to make the city smarter and to cope with rising demands for more capacity.
“The gigabit-capable connectivity provided by SSE Enterprise Telecoms is a key part of future-proofing not only our city but also the wider Perth and Kinross rural area.
“SSE Enterprise Telecoms’ technical expertise in enabling smarter cities, combined with its ability to undertake this project as economically as possible with minimal disruption, means we’ll be getting great value for our investment alongside our ongoing collaboration over the next 20 years.”
The award is the first gigabit-capable infrastructure project for SSE Enterprise Telecoms through the government’s RM6095 agreement, which aims to provide UK public sector bodies with fibre optic infrastructure.
This end-to-end full fibre network will be brought to 31 locations across the city region, providing the connectivity capabilities needed to facilitate next generation technologies such as 5G and Internet of Things (IoT), as well as Perth and Kinross Council’s future smart city plans.
Martin Samuel, public sector director at SSE Enterprise Telecoms, said: “Providing the Perth community with the digital infrastructure it needs to thrive is a cause that we feel strongly about.
“Once the network is fully operational in the second half of 2021, the deal will see us serve the local community for the next 20 years, helping to future-proof the region against the ever-growing demands of the digital economy.
“Our collaboration with the local authority will help to enable Perth’s smart city ambitions, with a very well-connected public sector and digitally empowered businesses that drive prosperity in the region and remove any connectivity-related barriers to success.”
