Action needed over poor broadband access in rural Scotland

A leading think tank has warned that urgent action is needed in rural Scotland in order to address issues relating to lack of broadband internet access.

A leading think tank has warned that urgent action is needed in rural Scotland in order to deal with issues relating to the lack of broadband internet access in the area. Scotland is now said to be lagging behind other countries and the rest of the UK when it comes to broadband access, and the Royal Society of Edinburgh has said that it believes that there needs to be the creation of an “optic fibre backbone akin to the trunk roads of our transport network”.

A report is set to be compiled by the group this week, and will be entitled Digital Scotland. The group claims that this network would be able to deliver broadband services to a further one and a half million people in rural parts of the country. Scotland now has the lowest percentage of households with high speed internet access in the UK according to the report, coming in at just sixty one percent compare to seventy three percent in England, seventy percent in Northern Ireland, and sixty four percent in Wales.

An official from the society said: “Communication is the life blood of society. Scotland’s future depends on having in place an effective digital infrastructure that will underpin a successful economy, vibrant culture and strong communities. But when it comes to delivering access to high speed broadband, Scotland is falling behind its international competitors, and so will fall behind in all areas in which high quality communication is vital: the economy, health, education, the delivery of public services and social interaction.”

He added: “Scotland must take the lead in developing its own digital infrastructure. We should not, and cannot, rely on the UK government to deliver this for us. The Scottish Government and Scotland’s local authorities must work together to drive forward the digital agenda as they are the bodies that hold many of the levers to do so, such as planning regulations, procurement and business rates.”

Source – Scotsman