ISP Giganet expands its network in Scotland, and says it is ‘going green’ by planting a tree every time it makes a sale.

Giganet has extended its full fibre network to 360,00 homes in Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee, Renfrewshire, Stirling, Glasgow, and Edinburgh.

The firm says less than 40% of premises in Scotland can currently connect to fibre, which we are told ‘means Scotland [is] still lagging behind the UK by almost 5% in the full fibre broadband rollout race.’ It’s not clear what almost 5% means – 4% or 3% perhaps? Either way it doesn’t seem like a massive variance, but all the same it’s no doubt good news for the bandwidth hungry in those recently plugged in areas.

The ISP has also gone green, we are informed: ‘And its great news for environmentally conscious consumers, Giganet, often recognised for its bright yellow vans, is going green, with a commitment to plant a tree for every new Scottish customer.’

“We take topics such as the climate emergency very seriously, and moreover, we act,” said Tanya Thorne, Chief Marketing Officer at Giganet. “Doing the right thing for our planet is something we are passionate about. Through our partnership with Ecologi, each new Scottish customer will contribute to supporting local reforestation in the United Kingdom, with schemes in Ayrshire and Mull, adding further trees to our 22,000+ strong forest.

“We pride ourselves in putting the customer first; offering excellent customer service, honest and transparent pricing, and flexible packages suited to all. With the cost of living rising and household budgets being squeezed across the UK, we are delighted to be offering our new Scottish customers 3 months free on a 12-month contract with no exit fees.”

It appears to now be impossible for tech or telco firms to announce anything at all without it also being pitched as in some way saving the planet, and they often talk as if this is their sole purpose, as opposed to, say, increasing revenue. They come with varying degrees of legitimacy, for instance 5G does have some energy efficiencies over 4G, so you can drum up some tangential environmental benefits to upgrading networks.

But claiming to be ‘going green’ by promising to plant a tree somewhere every time someone in Scotland buys a broadband package is, arguably, pushing it a bit.

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