BROADBAND take-up has risen by six per cent to 76 per cent in Scotland, just below the UK (and England) average of 77 per cent.
Says the broadcasting and communications regulator, Ofcom, the take-up figure is now ahead of both Northern Ireland (73 per cent) and Wales (71 per cent).
But as its Communications Market Report 2014 also reveals, it was not always thus. As recently as three years ago, broadband take-up in Scotland was 61 per cent (up from 31 per cent in 2005), behind Wales (on 71 per cent), Northern Ireland (on 75 per cent) and England (76 per cent).
Also says Ofcom: “The take-up of broadband in Glasgow has also increased year-on-year. The percentage of Glaswegians living in households with broadband (excluding mobile devices) is 63 per cent and 66 per cent if mobile devices are included. This compares to 50 per cent and 54 per cent respectively in Ofcom’s 2013 Communications Market Report.”
Eight in ten homes in Scotland now have internet access. Access increased by five percentage points, year-on-year, to come into line with the UK average (81 per cent).
The use of mobiles to access the internet increased by 12 percentage points – the biggest increase of the UK nations, bringing Scotland to 56 per cent (UK at 57 per cent).
Internet users in Scotland claimed to spend 16 hours 30 minutes on the internet per week, slightly less than the UK average of 16 hours 54 minutes. However, this represented a significantly greater amount of time using the internet outside the home, workplace, or place of education than users in Wales or Northern Ireland.
Source: The Communications Market Report 2014, Ofcom, publ August 7 2014.
