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A new report from Consumer Scotland, which is the statutory and independent voice for consumers in Scotland, has called for a series of improvements to address the ongoing “digital divide” that results in rural areas experiencing “poorer access to the latest broadband and mobile technology“. The report recommends an urgent review of 10Mbps USO, as well as other measures.
The Connected Consumers Report (PDF), which uses Ofcom’s latest data for Spring 2026, highlights how only 54% of rural consumers have access to gigabit-capable broadband compared with 89% of urban consumers in Scotland, the “largest urban-rural divide anywhere in the UK“. In total, more than 500,000 premises in Scotland do not yet have access to gigabit broadband and the majority of these are located in rural and island areas.
For example, in Aberdeenshire, Argyll & Bute, the Western Isles, the Orkney Islands and the Shetland Islands, less than half of all premises have access to gigabit-capable broadband. The report also highlights that 51,211 premises in Scotland cannot access the minimum broadband speeds (10Mbps download and 1Mbps upload) set out under Ofcom’s Universal Service Obligation (USO), with the vast majority (43,602) in rural areas.