Fears have been expressed the Scottish Government has abandoned its pledge to deliver high speed broadband to every household and business by 2021.
North East Fife MSP Willie Rennie voiced concerns after the latest update on the R100 programme, published by the SNP Government, excluded any mention of the target to complete it within two years.
The Scottish Liberal Democrat leader has called on ministers to urgently clarify their position.
Remote areas of north east Fife are having to put up with extremely slow broadband speeds while they wait for the upgrade.
Mr Rennie said: “The Scottish Government has given us a vague update on their progress with superfast broadband but everyone is supposed to have it by 2021.
“The promised goal is becoming increasingly unlikely as the Scottish Government has admitted that the contract for the R100 programme is still yet to be awarded.
“There has been no further detail on when the bid will be secured.”
The contract for the programme was due to be tendered more than a year ago but the process was extended and an announcement is not now due for at least another six months.
Mr Rennie described the situation as “hugely frustrating” for people in rural areas of north east Fife.
“Businesses rely on connectivity and raised hopes have continued to be met with further delays,” he said.
Connectivity minister Paul Wheelhouse confirmed the procurement process had been delayed and acknowledged the 2021 target was challenging.
“We are determined that the £600 million procurement for the Reaching 100 percent (R100) programme delivers the best possible value and benefit for Scotland,” he said.
“We have therefore designed a procurement process to achieve this.
“We have provided the bidders with the extension they sought, giving them more time to remodel their solutions.
“Our actions will see the procurement timeline extended, with the appointment of a preferred bidder or bidders anticipated by the end of September 2019 and contracts signed by the end of the year.”
He added: “We have always acknowledged that 2021 would be challenging but given the scale and complexity of the procurement, we will not sacrifice our aim of securing the best result for Scotland.”
