Demands made for next generation broadband in Scotland

In Scotland there is currently a big demand for next-generation broadband access but the shortage of fibre-to-home connectivity is as severe there as it currently is in the UK.

In a recent survey commissioned by Management and engineering consultancy, Mott Macdonald, the current needs from those currently online in Scotland to have high speed download access is more than 84 percent of the online population and for those wanting films and TV on demand it is even higher at 87 percent.

Out of all the homes in the UK less than 0.01 percents have the fibre-to-home network access that would allow them to access the next generation broadband required to allow these services to be delivered. This compares with countries like Norway with coverage of 7 percent and South Korea that covers 37 percent of its households.

A recent online survey conducted by YouGov of 1030 adults in Scotland, brought to light the increased need for Scottish people to have access to various online service with 61 percent wanting remote healthcare and 63 percent interested in making video calls. To add to this as many as 71 percent would like to access virtual learning tools via high speed broadband.

The director of the information, communications and media division at Mott MacDonald Tom Allen said “Although BT has announced plans to invest £1.5bn to build a high-speed fibre access network to deliver broadband services across the UK, it brings up questions on its suitability to Scotland. With its own government, Scotland has the power to invest in its own fibre network, and the strong central belt [including Glasgow and Edinburgh] provides an area rich with urban developments and businesses making a publicly owned venture worthwhile.”

He also added “The roll-out of high-speed broadband is going to be key to the future of the Scottish economy. It will allow the country’s businesses to grow and innovate and give households the access to the information and services that other countries already receive.”