If I asked you to imagine the type of property in Scotland that’s hardest to connect to full fibre broadband, what immediately springs to mind? A rural farm, perhaps, or maybe an island cottage at the end of a long single track?
Of course, these all have their challenges, but it is city centre tenements, flats and apartments that are currently at the highest risk of missing out on the myriad work, leisure and practical opportunities that better broadband brings.
There is a potential UK government solution on the horizon but, without careful consideration and coordination with the Scottish Government, there’s a real risk that its benefits will take far too long to be implemented in Scotland, leaving urban communities behind.
Scots already use roughly 100 million Gigabytes of data on the Openreach network each week, equivalent to every single person in the country watching a full HD movie every day, and data consumption is rising every single year.
When delivering connections in rural Scotland our engineers regularly come up with ingenious solutions to traverse sensitive peat bogs, repurpose existing infrastructure or camp out overnight to make sure island jobs are done, but in towns and cities it’s inhibitive regulatory barriers, rather than a lack of lateral thinking, that prevent full fibre delivery to tenements, flats and apartments.
Tenements make up almost one in three (28%) urban dwellings in Scotland. It’s almost inevitable you will either live in a tenement yourself, or know someone who does. These buildings are an iconic feature of many of our great cities. And yet, a lack of coordinated action from politicians means that these ubiquitous tenements could have to wait longer for essential 21st century upgrades.
Freehold rules, which generally apply to tenements and flats in Scotland, mean that every property has rights over shared communal spaces. To install new infrastructure in any of those spaces, Openreach or any other supplier must seek permission from every single property owner in the building.
The UK government is currently considering how to ensure better access to properties like this for broadband installation, but its chosen mechanism appears to be the upcoming Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill. This is a challenge as leasehold simply does not exist in the same way in Scotland, meaning separate legislation will most likely be required here.
This is not a Holyrood or Westminster issue alone, it requires cooperation and a clear strategy. We have seen before – in the case of mandating full fibre for new-builds – how the absence of a whole-UK approach can mean a huge delay in important provisions being introduced. This is the preventable digital divide in action.
Connectivity underpins almost everything we all do on a day-to-day basis, and it has a vital role to play in growing Scotland’s economy. Any potential lag in the delivery of these upgrades to tenements, flats and apartments is very concerning.
The investment is there, waiting to be deployed, and our engineers are ready to go. All we need now if for politicians to get around the table and remove these unnecessary barriers.
