Nearly 2000 homes and businesses in Edinburgh struggle to access decent and affordable broadband, new data from Ofcom has shown.
This is defined by the government as a connection that can deliver 10 megabits per second (Mbit/s) download speed and 1 Mbit/s upload speed, and costs less than £45 per month.
But 1,857 homes and businesses across the city are unable to access broadband that meets this standard, representing 0.7 per cent of homes and businesses.
However, in some neighbourhoods in the city, more than one in every seven properties do not have access to decent and affordable broadband.
In the Old Town, Princes Street and Leith Street, 14.8% of homes and businesses have poor broadband connectivity.
The same is true for 8.1% of people in Ratho, Ingliston and Gogar and 6.7% of people in Dalmeny, Kirkliston and Newbridge.
Also making it into the top five neighbourhoods worst affected are Currie West (5.3%) and Balerno and Bonnington Village (4.0%).
Last year, the government announced the Universal Service Obligation for broadband as part of its commitment to ensuring the UK has world-class digital connectivity and inclusion.
The USO is intended as a “safety-net” to deliver broadband to those premises that do not have access to a decent and affordable connection.
If a premises' broadband falls below these standards, and is not due to be connected to a publicly funded roll-out scheme within a year, the USO provides a legal right to request a decent broadband connection from the government, up to a cost threshold of £3,400.
Alternatively, the customer can choose to pay the excess if the cost of installing decent broadband would be more than that amount.
Consumers and businesses have been able to request connections from 20 March 2020 by applying here.
Ofcom’s figures show the situation in January this year, so do not reflect any upgrades that have occurred through the USO so far.
Overall, most people across Edinburgh have superfast broadband available to them (97.3% of premises), while 82.8% of homes and businesses have ultrafast broadband available and 26.9% have full fibre.
However, 6,985 homes and businesses are unable to receive 30 Mbit/s, including 936 of whom can’t receive 10 Mbit/s, 443 5 Mbit/s and 111 not even 2 Mbit/s.
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Selina Chadha, Ofcom’s Connectivity Director, said: “With many people needing to work and learn from home now, having a decent internet connection has never been more important.
“And while more people are being connected to faster broadband every day, there is more to do to bring all parts of the country up to speed – particularly rural areas.
“Anyone who cannot get a decent connection can now request one through the universal broadband service, so we encourage anyone in this situation to check if they are eligible for an upgrade.”
