Scotland needs to do more to attract additional investment in full fibre internet as it lags the rest of the UK, new research has warned.

Telecoms advisors Intelligens Consulting has published its latest ‘state of fibre’ update, a comprehensive mid-year update that shows the state of fibre availability across UK council areas and latest telecoms operator investment strategies.

The consultants’ mid-year update published in June 2022 presents the latest UK fibre availability stats including councils considered as rising stars.

Iqbal Singh Bedi, Founder and Consulting Director of Intelligens Consulting, said: “The market has changed significantly since the last update was published in 2021 and alternative network (altnet) fibre operators have secured billions more investment, meaning fibre availability has shot up.”

According to Intelligens Consulting, fibre availability across the UK has increased since December 2021 with an additional 8% of UK premises now served with gigabit capable fibre networks.

Six months ago, Intelligens Consulting estimated that the average fibre availability in the UK was just under 25% – this stands at just over 33% as of June 2022.

Bedi added: “A key finding of the data is that while fibre availability in London is well above the UK average, Scotland is well below the UK average and continues to suffer from under investment.”

He urged Scottish policy makers to do more to attract investment north of the border.

By council area, Aberdeen City Council leads Scotland by full fibre activity, having overtaken second-place Edinburgh in the past six months. Orkney and Shetlands Islands are the two lowest ranked areas.

The update also shows that the top ten altnets in the UK have secured a total of over £10 billion, which is double the tally in December 2021, to invest in some 20 million premises.

“This shows there is still a significant appetite for investment in full fibre networks,” said Bedi.

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Despite the healthy appetite for investment, Bedi urges some caution.

“It is likely that market consolidation will occur in the next few years and competition from incumbents will increase. Smaller altnets will need to develop survival strategies by merging with other smaller altnets or participating in the Government’s Project Gigabit.”

Project Gigabit is a £5 billion public subsidy grant being made available to altnets to enhance coverage in rural and hard to reach areas.

According to Intelligens Consulting’s recent analysis, participating in Project Gigabit can also enhance the enterprise valuations for alternative network operators.

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