Scotland invests in broadband across country

The Scottish government has spent £25 million ensuring almost every home in Scotland has a broadband connection, according to analysts Point Topic.

Through a range of different roll-out schemes initiated over the past eight years, the vast majority of homes and businesses throughout Scotland now have access to connections of around 0.5 megabits per second (Mbps), facilitating the use of VoIP solutions and other applications.

While the connection speed falls below what Lord Carter recently pledged to deliver over the next few years throughout the UK, Scottish broadband access is currently operational and includes rural areas of the country.

Tim Johnson, chief analyst at Point Topic, said: "Reaching such wide coverage in a country which includes some of the least populated areas in western Europe has been a major feat."

He added that the development is a significant achievement for Scotland as a country and demonstrates national cohesion.

Lord Carter recently pledged to deliver connection speeds of 2Mbps across the UK by 2012, but his plan has drawn criticism as rural communities could lose out.