Compare the Market’s latest research — which looked at the scope of broadband download and upload speeds across the UK — found that the local authorities of the Orkney Islands, Shetland Islands, Argyll and Bute, Na h-Eileanan Siar, and Highland had the poorest broadband download rates.

Specifically, the residents and businesses of the Orkney Islands had access to an average download speed of 41 Megabits per second (Mbit/s) — the slowest in the UK — followed by the Shetland Islands’ 43.3 Mbit/s, Argyll and Bute’s 46.3 Mbit/s, Na h-Eileanan Siar’s 48.5 Mbit/s, and Highland’s 50.7 Mbit/s.

On the other side of the spectrum, the English city of Hull was found to have the fastest average broadband download speed at 228.4 Mbit/s.

The results of Compare the Market’s latest findings come as work continues to connect rural Scottish areas with improved internet access and speeds.

In 2021, the Scottish government made a commitment to the R100 (“Reaching 100%”) infrastructure programme, which sets out to enable every home and business in Scotland with access to super fast broadband speeds, and at least speeds of 30 Megabits per second.

Contracts for the programme were awarded to BT, the multinational telecoms giant. Due to ongoing global supply chain issues, it’s estimated that R100 contracts will be completed in 2028.

In addition to R100, other initiatives — like Project Gigabit, the UK government’s flagship programme for connecting hard-to-reach communities with fast broadband, and Shared Rural Network, which aims to deliver 4G coverage to 95% of the UK — are underway to improve digital accessibility and connectivity for the people living and working in the country’s most isolated locations.

On Compare the Market’s findings, Liz Cameron, the Chief Executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, said to The Times: “It’s clear that the provision of fibre broadband, 4G and 5G coverage across Scotland remains poor — holding back businesses, particularly in many rural, remote and coastal parts of Scotland where provision often remains substandard.

“The Scottish government needs to deliver on the promises of the R100 scheme and ensure superfast broadband connectivity to every home and business in Scotland as a priority.

“Businesses need to see the government pull out all the stops to remove barriers to rollout, invest in deployment and work with providers to ensure that all parts of Scotland receive the coverage and speeds that they deserve.”

In April, DIGIT reported on research conducted by the Federation of Small Businesses on the impact that poor digital connectivity has on rural businesses.

For instance, almost a third (32%) of rural small businesses continue to report issues with their broadband, with just 17% of their urban counterparts saying the same.

Further, the research revealed that twice as many rural businesses reported unreliable broadband has affected their ability to contact customers (14% vs 6%), reduced the competitiveness of their business (11% vs 5%), and led to a loss of business or sales (10% vs 5%).

Recommended

• DIGIT Movers and Shakers | May 2023
• Edinburgh Uni AI Accelerator Alum Lands £500k Angel Investment
• Scotland’s Innovation Minister Concerned Over UK AI Regulation Plans

Richard Lochhead, Scotland’s Innovation Minister, also commented on the findings, saying the following to The Times: “Broadband is the responsibility of the UK government. Despite this, the Scottish government’s R100 and Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programmes have already connected about one million properties across Scotland to faster broadband.

“We are investing more than £600 million through the R100 contracts, extending full fibre broadband access to some of the hardest-to-reach rural communities in Scotland.

“The R100 programme has delivered new full fibre subsea cables across Orkney and Shetland and building on land is under way. This is complex and will take time, however it will provide future-proofed connectivity for decades. In total, it is expected the R100 contracts will connect more than 5,700 properties across Orkney and Shetland.

“A further 8,400 homes and businesses in Argyll and Bute will also benefit from access to faster broadband through the R100 contracts.”