Scotland dominating ADSL Broadband take-up

According to figures released by BT Wholesale, customers in North-east Scotland and the Shetland Isles are connecting to broadband faster than any other parts of the UK.

A top ten league table of ADSL broadband take-up shows Scotland counties occupying most of the places.  Aberdeenshire occupies the top position with a take-up rate of 50.9 percent closely followed by Shetland at 50.7 per cent. 

The statistics show the Scottish national average at 33.3 per cent compared to the UK average of 31.2 per cent.

ADSL Broadband take-up top ten

1. Aberdeenshire 50.9 per cent
2. Shetland 50.7 per cent
3. Stirling 48.4 per cent
4. Aberdeen 48.3 per cent
5. Moray 47.9 per cent
6. Monmouthshire 47.5 per cent
7. Oxfordshire 46.8 per cent
8. (eq.) Scilly Isles, Flintshire 46.4 per cent
10. Highland 45.8 per cent

Brendan Dick, BT Scotland director, said: “Aberdeenshire, Shetland, Stirling, Aberdeen and Moray are in a league of their own when it comes to broadband take-up. These areas have consistently been among the leaders in the UK for broadband adoption, which emphasises the innovative nature of their people and businesses.

“It says a great deal for Scotland and its people that it now boats the five most switched-on local authority areas in the UK. Fast internet access is now making a huge contribution to the economic success of Scotland, as businesses find new markets and work more efficiently, and households capitalise on the almost limitless abilities of the internet for education, entertainment and shopping.

“Broadband adoption makes a lot of sense in tackling remoteness and enabling people to work where they live, and it has massive potential in terms of our national contribution to tackling climate change.” he added.

On the note on climate change, BT also recently said that staff use of conferencing has helped it to reduce it’s carbon footprint.  According to a survey it conducted, teleconferencing helped the company avoid 860,000 meetings and save 97,000 tonnes of CO2.