Scots' '˜slower than expected' broadband speeds shock

Scots are getting significantly slower broadband speeds than they thought they would, a consumer study has revealed.
Report finds broadband expectation gap is growing across UK. Pic: ShutterstockReport finds broadband expectation gap is growing across UK. Pic: Shutterstock
Report finds broadband expectation gap is growing across UK. Pic: Shutterstock

People living in some areas of Scotland are only getting around 48 per cent of the broadband speeds they were expecting, according to a report from Which? – while the average is just 61 per cent of the speed anticipated by consumers.

On Orkney, people only expected to get a paltry 19MBs – yet the actual figure achieved was just 13.4MBs. Meanwhile, in Inverclyde, consumers expected 73.6MBs, but actually got 35.4MBs. UK-wide, the study found that broadband speed tests recorded only 58 per cent of the speed that users were expecting to get.

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The results showed that the faster the expected speed, the bigger the expectation gap between what consumers thought they should receive and actual speed in the tests. For example, consumers expecting speeds between 30Mbps and 500Mbps were on average only able to get 54 per cent of the speed they were expecting.

A separate study from Which? recently found that three Scottish local authority areas – the Orkney Islands, the Shetland Islands and Highland – were ranked the worst in the UK for broadband speeds.

Alex Neill, managing director of home services and products at Which?, whose “Fix Bad Broadband” campaign and free speed checker aims to help consumers discover whether the broadband speed reflects what they signed up for, said: “Consumers need to regularly test their broadband speed to check they are getting the service they are paying for. If they aren’t they should contact their provider so that any issues with their service can be resolved.”

Scottish Conservative digital spokesman Finlay Carson said: “The Scottish Government has been given the resources to make progress on this, but has failed. That’s bad for the economy, particularly in rural areas, and means Scots in many areas are being left behind in the modern world.”

A Scottish Government spokesman said its superfast broadband rollout programme was the “most ambitious in the UK”.

He said: “We are committed to delivering 100 per cent superfast broadband access across Scotland by 2021.”