Third worst internet speeds are in the Shire

Rural areas in slow lane for superfast

Rural areas are being left behind in the race for superfast broadband, a public spending watchdog has found. Audit Scotland has today published a report by the Auditor General into the Scottish Government’s superfast broadband programme.

Ministers are praised for achieving their target of providing fibre broadband access to 95% of properties across the country.

However, the report also warns that further investment may be needed on top of the government’s £600 million and highlights a lack of clarity over how it will achieve its target of 100% coverage of 30 megabit per second (mbps) by 2021.

Rural areas also continue to lag behind towns and cities, with the north and northeast enjoying only half the speed of the fastest areas in the country, including Dundee.

And while the situation has improved since 2016, Orkney has the worst average speeds in the country and Aberdeenshire the third-worst.

The two areas are also trailing behind other parts of Scotland when it comes to receiving speeds of 10mbps, with around 13% of customers in Aberdeenshire and about 28% in Orkney still not receiving that speed.

North East Scotland MSP Mike Rumbles, said: “With the clock ticking, the Scottish Government has finally earmarked £600m for the programme for broadband development.

“Some of that funding is planned for the north-east but so far progress has been glacial.

“After listening to ministers patting themselves on the back for six years, I want to see more action from the Scottish Government to target the areas worst affected.

“No more announcements. No more promises. Just get on with the job.”

Orkney MSP Liam McArthur added: “This latest report lays bare the extent to which Orkney is getting a raw deal.

“It also makes the case for future broadband funding to be prioritised in areas such as Orkney, which are already lagging behind.

“The Scottish Government’s commitment to deliver high speed broadband to 100% of households and businesses across Scotland by 2021 is very welcome.

“However, with the procurement of the R100 programme already delayed, it is not at all clear how this commitment will be met.

“It is all the more important, therefore, that places like Orkney are at the front of the queue when it finally comes to delivery of this programme.”

Fraser McKinlay, Audit Scotland’s director of performance audit and best value, said: “Good progress has been made to date but the toughest hurdle remains – to extend the benefits to everyone, particularly remote and rural communities.

“As well as being the toughest hurdle, it is not yet clear how the Scottish Government is going to fulfil its pledge to deliver superfast broadband to everyone by the end of 2021.”

However, Paul Wheelhouse, Minister For Energy, Connectivity and the Islands, said: “The report recognises it won’t be easy to deliver the commitment.

“But we have backed our commitment with a record £600m (96.5% funding by Scottish Government) in initial funding for procurement of the Reaching 100% programme and are in dialogue with three suppliers.”

“The quality of what is now for most people a vital utility remains unacceptably poor”

There are any number of obvious reasons why parts of our region regularly ranks so highly in league tables of happiness. Friendly folk, stunning scenery, the finest food and drink and quite simply a quality of life that would be the envy of many. But there is though one thing common to most corners of the north and north-east that rarely brings a smile: broadband speeds. Almost two decades into the 21st Century, the quality of what is now for most people a vital utility remains unacceptably poor. Statements of good intent have come thick and fast in recent years, Politicians fall over themselves in a rush to promise minimum standards, even in areas unattractive to commercial firms. There have been some successes, but mostly at the easier end of the problem – or, more appropriately, of the country. Scottish ministers’ stated aim to hook every single home and business to superfast speeds in the next three years is another in a line of laudable aims. The latest analysis, though, makes clear just how out of reach that still looks. Audit Scotland’s report is welcome for its focus on the scale of the problem and the inadequacy of the current solution. Hopefully it will nudge us nearer the day we can beam our happiness from even the most remote home to the four corners of the globe.

North East MSP Mike Rumbles