APPROVAL is being sought to upgrade bandwidth at eight Borders high schools.

Elected officials of Scottish Borders Council will discuss an emergency powers paper at a full meeting on Thursday (September 23).

According to the report, the works will cost £1.7 million and will be contracted with IT firm CGI.

The upgrade could save the council up to £3.3 million on future connection works, the report adds.

READ MORE: Borders community set for major investment, says councillor

“The strategic solution described in this report provides a significant upgrade in terms of capacity, resilience and future proofing over the existing fibre network that services the region’s secondary schools, meeting increased demand today and providing further capacity to meet future growth in education demand for internet services,” it states.

“Further, it delivers an upgrade of the connectivity to 20 other council sites along the proposed routes and supports other potential future council initiatives to deliver enhanced services to our citizens.”

Connectivity is “at the core” of the council’s digital vision.

The eight high schools included in the report are Galashiels; Peebles; Selkirk; Kelso; Hawick; Berwickshire; Eyemouth; and Earlston.

READ MORE: 'Our street lighting is so strong we cannot sleep', says Peeblesshire resident

The upgrade could also help businesses and residents in the towns by allowing them to access full fibre services, according to the report.

Secondary schools are a “significant part” of the growing demand for fast connectivity in the Borders.

The report adds: “The infrastructure that was commissioned through the original CGI contract was initially sized to allow for a ten-fold increase in bandwidth to secondary schools.

“In the five years since the contract was signed, bandwidth utilisation has grown to the point that 70 per cent of our secondary schools are now seeing peaks heading towards the limits of the technology that was implemented.”