SEVERAL Scottish councils are using Starlink across multiple sites including primary schools and visitor centres, a National investigation has found.
Elon Musk – the world’s richest man – who has drawn criticism from a number of figures in Scotland over his political stances in recent years, uses his company SpaceX to operate a series of low-earth orbit satellites.
The company has about 5000 satellites in space around the globe and the technology is being used by several councils in Scotland to connect rural sites and isolated areas to better internet service.
In 2024, connections through Musk’s Starlink reached 87,000 – mostly in rural areas – more than double the 42,000 connections in 2023.
In Scotland, trains to Inverness, Thurso and Wick already have WiFi provided by Starlink, with SpaceX monitoring the trains’ performance, safety systems, and live CCTV.
If successful, the pilot – backed by the Scottish Government, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and the Scottish Futures Trust – could be rolled out along other rural rail routes across Scotland.
Starlink claims it outpaces its rivals when it comes to download speeds, upload speeds, and latency.
So, we asked every council in Scotland if it used Starlink, why, for how long, and how much it costs. Here’s what they said.
Argyll and Bute
Several schools and council sites across Argyll and Bute have installed Starlink, with the cost for hardware, installation, start-up costs, and ongoing service payments all provided by the council.
A test installation at the GWITC site was completed on January 4, 2024, with deactivation on January 31, 2025. Starlink received £744 for hardware (including fixings), £280 for installation, £1024 in total start-up costs, and £150 per month ongoing costs, with £1785 total paid to date.
Installed on February 6, 2025, Gigha Primary School (below) is connected via Starlink. The breakdown includes £801 for hardware, £1377 for installation, £2178 total start-up, and £150 monthly service cost, with £65 paid so far.
Kilmory HQ received Starlink installation on 29 July 2024, aimed at testing performance and reliability for broader council use. Starlink received £849 for hardware, £1045 for installation, £1894 total start-up, and £150 monthly cost, with £1,000 paid to date.
Easdale Primary is the second school with Starlink in Argyll and Bute. Costs included £654 for hardware, £925 for installation, £1579 total start-up, and £150 monthly charge, with £1055 paid to date.
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar
The Western Isles Council uses Starlink in one primary school and a museum store.
The primary school started using the technology in May 2023, and the museum store received Starlink in February 2025.
In both cases they were £460 initial purchase cost, with £75 per month thereafter.
All councils were asked for any internal reports or assessments on the effectiveness of Starlink in council operations, and most held no information of this sort. However, a Comhairle nan Eilean Siar spokesperson said: “Nothing official just verbal discussion that they are working fantastically”.
Falkirk
Falkirk Council has used Starlink the most out of any Scottish local authority, deploying it 11 times since 2022.
It is unclear which of the below are still live, with no deactivation dates supplied by the council.
The authority’s bereavement services office installed the technology in December 2022, with the initial equipment purchase costing £495 with a monthly charge of £80.
In the same month a care home also received Starlink costing £460 with a monthly charge of £80. Two sports and culture sites and a children’s services location all also had Starlink installed for the same price and monthly charge.
The council’s headquarters also installed Starlink “for business continuity,” costing £612.80 at a monthly charge of £80.
In 2023 between January and July, a social work office, work and housing advice hub, “travellers” site, files storage facility and a care home all had Starlink installed for £612.80 each, with each site costing a monthly charge of £80.
Fife
Fife Council does not use Starlink as of May 2025, but did previously test the technology after it was “only suggested and looked at as a backup network solution to supplement the wired network where mobile coverage was poor”.
A council spokesperson said: “There are no further plans at this moment in time to pursue the Starlink option.”
The cost associated with its use, including procurement and ongoing expenses, was £913.55.
Highland
Scotland’s largest local authority has installed Starlink in five instances, with the latest project going live in February and another awaiting evaluation.
At a children’s home in the Loch Ness area, the council installed Starlink in November 2023 due to “no landline broadband available in this area”. The installation cost £3000, with an ongoing monthly charge of £150.
A corporate HQ mobile unit was set up in December 2023 to provide “fast setup needed for emergencies or temporary events”. The council said mobile coverage may not be available in areas of emergency. An estimated £1000 was spent on the installation, with a monthly service fee of £96.
Two primary schools in the Highlands are using Starlink, one in Tain and another in Lairg.
The primary school in Tain is for “additional bandwidth needed for pupil use”. The council said the capital costs of a fixed line was “unaffordable due to imminent relocation of [the] school”.
Highland Council also revealed a mobile site office which is yet to be deployed has been installed with Starlink. The unit will be used for “rapid deployment to works sites (e.g. road projects) where other services may be too slow to deploy or unavailable”.
The costs for the unit so far amount to £300.
A Highland Council spokesperson said: “All the services on the attached spreadsheet have been ordered directly from Starlink. We are considering a managed service in future as the number of installations is likely to increase and managing the directly ordered services presents some challenges.
“In addition, BT are considering deploying Starlink as part of our managed WAN contract, though in this case it would be BT making the choice of technology, not the council.”
Renfrewshire
The Clyde Muirshiel Visitor Centre within Renfrewshire Council uses Starlink.
The local authority began using the technology in March 2025 to provide “primary internet access for council devices and a limited public access wireless network”.
The council said Starlink was the only connection that met the connectivity requirements of the service and at a reasonable cost.
Installation cost £1087.74, with recurring costs at £1578.65 per year.
Scottish Borders
The Scottish Borders council said it was “unable to release this information into the public domain” under Section 35 (1) (a) which exempts information if its disclosure is likely to prejudice the prevention or detection of crime.
A spokesperson from the council’s IT department said: "Considerations in favour of the releasing the information included consideration of public interest in transparency and accountability and disclosure of information about Scottish Borders Council procedures and commercial outsourcing contracts.
“However, release of this information would make Scottish Borders Council more vulnerable to crime; namely, a malicious attack on Scottish Borders Council computer systems.
“As such release of this information would be seen to prejudice the prevention or detection of crime, by making Scottish Borders Council computer systems more vulnerable to hacking, therefore facilitating the possibility of a criminal offence being carried out.”
Shetland Islands
Shetland Islands Council uses Starlink for “site connectivity/disaster recovery” and on the MV Leirna.
The council started using the technology for “site connectivity/disaster recovery” in November 2022, and on the MV Leirna in May 2024.
The council uses Starlink to test various scenarios in the event of primary connection issues, and this cost £2485 for the initial equipment purchase, and is £150 per month when in use.
The cost of the MV Lerina Starlink procurement and ongoing expenses to “improve ferry connectivity,” according to the council, was £2668.60 for the initial equipment purchase, and is £808 per month.
Stirling
Stirling would “neither confirm nor deny” whether the information on Starlink is held, citing security concerns.
A spokesperson said: “While the council remain committed to transparency and supporting public access to information where appropriate, we must also carefully assess and mitigate the risks associated with disclosing certain details, particularly where such disclosures may pose a threat to the organisation's security and operations.
"Sharing information regarding the council's infrastructure presents a significant cybersecurity risk. This could inadvertently expose potential vulnerabilities within our infrastructure, thereby increasing the likelihood of targeted cyberattacks, including ransomware, unauthorised access, or data breaches."
They added: “Moreover, disclosing information of this nature may compromise the confidentiality and integrity of our IT environment and reveal operational practices intended to remain secure as part of our wider organisational resilience strategy. From a governance standpoint, releasing this information could hinder the council’s ability to protect both individual data and broader corporate systems.
“In this case, we consider that the public interest lies in withholding this information as disclosing this, presents a security risk to the organisation and therefore the members of the public who we provide services for.”
Councils in Scotland which do not use Starlink technology (as of May 2025):
- Aberdeen City
- Aberdeenshire
- Angus
- Clackmannanshire
- Dumfries and Galloway
- Dundee City
- East Ayrshire
- East Dunbartonshire
- East Renfrewshire
- Edinburgh City
- Fife (previously tested Starlink)
- Glasgow City
- Inverclyde
- Midlothian
- Moray
- North Lanarkshire
- Orkney
- Perth and Kinross
- South Ayrshire
- South Lanarkshire
- West Dunbartonshire
- West Lothian
