Partnership and political will can resolve challenges

As a nation, we are blessed with some of the most dramatic geography it’s possible to find. From sweeping glens to remote islands, to some of the hardest rock in the world, Scotland can feel deliberately designed to challenge digital infrastructure engineers.

If we want a strong connected future, and accept working around nature’s most formidable barriers is a fact of life in delivering it, reform of more moveable obstacles becomes vital.

We have always worked closely with government, and as we follow the selection process for Scotland’s next first minister, I hope the sometimes less glamorous subject of business regulation receives the attention it deserves as they set out their pitches.

All too often, deploying the ingenuity of our talented engineers is thwarted or delayed by entirely man-made obstructions. In many cases, the problem does not come in respectfully traversing one of our many wildernesses with fibre optic cable, but instead manifests itself around gaining access to a block of flats, or under the road, or even putting new equipment on an existing telegraph pole. These sector-wide challenges can be resolved through partnership and political will, ultimately leading to better outcomes for Scotland’s economy.

Katie Milligan is Chief Commercial Officer of Openreach and Chair of its Scotland Board.

Better connectivity can be the key to unlocking Scotland’s future economic growth in these uncertain times. Cebr research shows that connecting everyone in Scotland to full fibre broadband by 2025 would create a £4.5 billion boost to the nation’s economy.

It can help retain rural populations, and attract skilled new incomers, help businesses diversify and cut carbon associated with commuting, all whilst turbocharging education and access to information.

Online activity takes many different forms and touches almost every aspect of our daily lives. To put this in context, Scots use around 100 million Gigabytes of data each week – equivalent to 90 million hours of video calls, watching 38 million full HD movies, or 87 million hours of live streaming.

This sort of connectivity, and the myriad opportunities it opens up, will also be central if political aims for ‘20-minute neighbourhoods’ are to be achieved in Scotland’s unique geographic and population position. Businesses can be freed of some location constraints if better connectivity is on offer, which is vital for the sustainability and viability of rural neighbourhoods where people are seeking easier access to services in their local area.

Scotland’s geography can challenge infrastructure engineers, says Katie Milligan

All of these benefits require getting to the point of putting cables into the ground or into homes to deliver that vital broadband connection. Our ultrafast broadband now reaches 800,000 homes and businesses across Scotland, with more than a third of those in rural communities, but there is still much more to do.

The beautiful difficulty of Scotland’s postcard-friendly mountains and lochs is, perhaps, why we have a long history of innovators and problem solvers, but it’s hard to similarly forgive the unglamorous red tape that can prevent bringing faster internet to otherwise accessible premises.

To achieve the full potential that Scotland’s people and places have to offer, we must make doing business easier. We look forward to outcomes from the ongoing review into the impact of regulation on business, new ideas emerging from the leadership campaigns and constructive ongoing engagement with government.

A relentless focus on achieving the right outcomes, with regulations and processes designed to do that, has never been more important.

Katie Milligan is Chief Commercial Officer of Openreach and Chair of its Scotland Board.