Question reference: S5W-34493
- Asked by: Bruce Crawford, MSP for Stirling, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 12 January 2021
-
Current status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 1 February 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what percentage of (i) households and (ii) business premises have had access to superfast broadband in each year since 2016.
Answer
Ofcom has provided the following figures for numbers of properties in Scotland able to access superfast broadband - of 30 Megabits per second (30Mbps) and above - by year.
Unfortunately, the figures provided do not break down between residential and business properties, and only go as far back as 2017:
Year | Properties with superfast coverage (30Mbps+) |
2020 | 2,581,836 |
2019 | 2,573,289 |
2018 | 2,563,554 |
2017 | 2,276,309 |
However, Ofcom’s Connected Nations annual reports for 2019 and 2020 provide information on coverage percentages across residential and commercial properties in Scotland, as set out in the following table:
Year | Superfast coverage in residential properties (%) | Superfast coverage in commercial properties (%) |
2020 | 94 | 83 |
2019 | 92 | 83 |
Prior to 2019, these reports outline coverage percentages by non-SME properties and SME properties:
Year | Superfast coverage in non-SME properties (%) | Superfast coverage in SME properties (%) |
2018 | 92 | 86 |
2017 | 87 | 78 |
2016 | 83 | 72 |
More information can be found on Ofcom’s website at https://www.ofcom.org.uk/research-and-data/multi-sector-research/infrastructure-research/connected-nations-2020 .