BT has completed a submarine broadband cable project in Scotland, claiming it has been hailed as the most complex underwater engineering challenge ever undertaken by the telco. The installation included 250 miles of fibre optic cabling across 20 seabed crossings.

The subsea deployment is part of a wider, £410 million programme named Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband project. The aim of the project is to build a fibre network to bring broadband to 84% of the Scottish islands and highlands by 2016.

“Today marks an incredibly important step in the completion of the most complex ever underwater engineering that Scotland has seen,” Deputy First Minister, John Swinney said. “It is a hugely impressive technological feat that work has been completed in such a short timescale.

“In the coming months, thanks to the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband Programme, many island communities will start to benefit from fibre broadband – that otherwise would not have received coverage. The rollout of superfast broadband will allow many households across our islands to connect to fibre broadband services for the first time, as well as giving businesses the opportunity to enhance their services.”

Work on the main network that also links the subsea connections together is expected to complete by springtime next year. As well as the islands and highlands, the overall project includes the rest of the Scotland covering 750,000 premises.

“An additional 150,000 Scottish homes and businesses can now access superfast broadband as a result of our nationwide rollout so far, and we’re reaching an additional 40,000 premises across the UK every week,” UK Government Digital Economies Minster Ed Vaizey said.

“The completion of the subsea work is a major milestone which will mean that island communities are not left behind as we continue to transform the digital landscape of Scotland.”

Brendan Dick, BT’s Scotland Director said: “This underwater spider’s web of fibre optic cables is set to deliver a seismic shift in communications for Scotland’s island communities, bringing them in closer touch with the rest of the world than ever before.”