LONDON -- A £146 million investment project to deliver high speed fibre broadband across the Highlands and Islands is being announced today (26 March). The project, led by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and delivered by BT, is being hailed as the UK’s most complex and challenging broadband project ever. It means that around 84 per cent of Highlands and Islands homes and businesses will have access to fibre broadband by the end of 2016. Announced by Alex Paterson, HIE Chief Executive, at a contract signing with BT in Inverness the project is set to create a fibre network which will transform the area’s digital capabilities for decades to come. The public sector investment towards the contract is £126.4m. It is being delivered through the Scottish Government broadband fund, which incorporates funding from Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK), and also includes up to £12m from HIE’s own budget. BT is investing an additional £19.4 million in the project, on top of its investment in its wider commercial roll-out for the region, taking the total project value to around £146 million. BDUK is responsible for increasing access to broadband on behalf of the UK Coalition Government. BT Group plc