Scotland has worst superfast availability amongst UK nations - Ofcom

Ofcom’s annual infrastructure report Connected Nations 2015, published this week, has found smaller firms’ access to superfast broadband continues to lag compared to residential consumers.

The report also shows that Scotland has the worst superfast broadband availability amongst UK nations. It also highlights that Scottish SMEs are more likely to have a slow connection than their counterparts in all other parts of the UK.

Although there has some improvement delivering superfast broadband to businesses, Ofcom found only 68 per cent of UK small businesses have access to superfast broadband, compared to 83 per cent of all UK premises. Similarly, almost half of small businesses on UK business parks are unable to receive speeds above 10Mbps.

Andy Willox, FSB Scottish policy convenor, said: “While progress has been made, far too many Scottish small businesses are stuck in the digital slow lane.

“The research underlines the importance of the UK Government’s new commitment to a 10Mbps Universal Service Obligation (USO). When the details of the new USO are unveiled, they should include explicit targets for connecting smaller businesses and delivering a reliable, consistent service. This will be especially important in rural Scotland.

“At next year’s Scottish Parliament elections the FSB wants our political parties to lay out their plans for broadband and mobile in Scotland. We need to make digital a national priority - developing a plan with ironclad commitments from all of levels of government and the telecoms industry.”