In a development that will “open up the world” to the small village of Halkirk, six miles south of Thurso in Caithness, connection speeds have been supercharged to become 3,000 times faster on average after we’ve installed our fibre optic network in the area. Businesses will be transformed and the way of living revolutionised for many in the Highland community that – almost overnight – has gone from having the slowest internet connection in the UK to Scotland’s fastest broadband.

Halkirk’s population sits at 950 and our customers in the area now experience speeds of up to 8,000Mbps, allowing people from all walks of life the opportunity of seamless streaming and lightning-quick downloads.

Tanya Horne, who runs a highland dance school in the village, said reliable broadband will “open up the world” to her young students. Tanya, who teaches around 100 students from across Caithness each week, said:

“The dancers could benefit from online practice programmes provided by a world champion highland dancer 250 miles away and CrossFit with a trainer in the United States, to name just a couple. They’ll now be able to do that as a group, which will be so much more valuable as a learning experience. Likewise, I have lectured and given demonstrations for fellow professionals in North America and with good broadband we can continue that sharing of expertise in highland dancing around the world.

Last year, we had a local fiddler and accordionist providing live music at a special workshop and one of our younger girls, aged 6, came up to me afterwards and said how nice it was to dance to continuous music — without the buffering we used to get. This new connection will ensure we can have uninterrupted music at each lesson.”

The Ulbster Arms Hotel will use the ultra-fast connection as a major selling point to bring tourism and business to the area. Jess Dreaves, general manager said:

“A lot of people forget that there’s a world north of Inverness. By partnering with Highland Broadband and installing a faster connection, we are able to have the confidence to offer our guests the fastest broadband connection available in the country.

We have 13 rooms within our hotel as well as five lodges, so having the best broadband connection that can deliver for dozens of users is essential. Now we have changed over to Highland Broadband, staff and guests are able to connect quickly and stay online.”

At the Ross Institute, a village hall, the committee has plans to diversify into provision for weddings and conferences, unlocking revenue streams to help meet the facility’s considerable running and maintenance costs.Trish Bremner, treasurer of Halkirk Village Council, trustees of the Ross Institute said:

“We only just got broadband in the hall last year but, with our new reliable connectivity, we see the potential for hosting conferences and weddings. It opens up more opportunities for us.”

Teenage gamer Mackenzie Westwood added:

“Usually when I download the latest game I have to wait a couple of days, but when I downloaded one recently it took just over 10 minutes.”

Halkirk had the dubious honour of the slowest broadband internet speed in the UK, at 2.8Mbps on average, according to 2023 research by industry watchdog Broadband Genie, who used data across 250,000 speed tests carried out by users over 12 months. Following our network rollout of a new 10Gbps capable fibre optic network, residents of Halkirk can now get a number of different speed packages up to 8Gbps symmetrical upload and download speeds. This means our customers in Halkirk will now experience average speeds of 744Mbps¹, which is 3000 times faster than their previous average speeds.

Colin Woodward, Managing Director of Highland Broadband, said:

“We are proud to be able to bring the UK’s fastest fibre broadband network to the village of Halkirk. Our mission is to bring fast, reliable broadband to communities who’ve previously missed out on full-fibre, closing the gap in access to all digital services. We are delighted with the number of residents who have signed up for our service and look forward to rolling out our network further throughout the Highlands. Access to good, reliable digital infrastructure is so important for everyone in a community and we’re pleased to be delivering this across Scotland.”

Maree Todd, MSP Caithness, Sutherland and Ross said:

“I’m thrilled to see the progress in Halkirk, a village that was once home to some of the slowest internet speeds in the UK. Thanks to the efforts of Highland Broadband and financial support from the Scottish National Investment Bank, the village will now benefit from some of the fastest internet speeds in the UK. Investing in rural broadband infrastructure goes far beyond convenience — it’s about ensuring rural communities have a level playing field, keeping them connected, competitive, and resilient in an increasingly digital world.

The shift towards remote working since Covid has accelerated the need for fast and reliable internet. Improved connectivity supports remote working and makes rural areas more attractive places to live and work, which is vital for addressing depopulation. Upgrades like these are helping to bridge the digital divide, providing rural communities like Halkirk with access to the same economic and social opportunities as those in urban areas.”

Our rollout in Halkirk, and other areas of the Highlands, Lothians, Fife and Stirlingshire which have experienced poor access to ultrafast full-fibre broadband, was supported by investment from the Scottish National Investment Bank.

As the only broadband provider building a network exclusively in Scotland, we’re proud to be on track to have built the first fibre network throughout 136 rural towns and villages in Scotland by the end of 2025, and will extend to 60,000 premises throughout rural Scotland by the end of next year.