by Professor Claire Wallace, University of Aberdeen
Fast broadband connections are increasingly important for business and for managing daily life. This is just as true in rural areas as in urban ones. Yet much of Scotland gets very poor connections and some areas are “not spots” with no connectivity at all. Scotland’s mountainous terrain and scattered rural population make it especially challenging to provide fast broadband. These populations are underserved by digital communications as well as by mobile connections because they are not profitable for Internet Service Providers to connect. However, it is arguable that they need good communications more than urban areas.