A Fife group is to ask providers to tender for the provision of superfast broadband to areas of north-east Fife not covered by the BT digital roll-out.
Community Initiative North East Fife (Coinef), a charity funded by Fife Council and supported by Fife Voluntary Action and Community Broadband Scotland, says a consultation showed a need for an alternative to the mainstream offering.
Councillor Andy Heer, a director of Coinef, said: “It’s been a long drawn-out process and continues to be so.
“EU regulations mean that council and government funds can’t be used where we might compete with commercial interests so in the first instance we will only be looking to introduce superfast broadband into areas where BT and other providers are not doing so.
“We have to advertise our intentions and give any potential commercial competitors time to respond.
“We then have to report the results to an EU agency who we anticipate will give us the all-clear to go ahead and invite tenders.”
