Scotland's digital future faces stagnation and risks damaging the Scottish economy unless swift action is taken to bring the country's digital infrastructure up to speed with other European nations. The issue has been identified as a lack of ultra-fast fibre to the premises (FTTP) connections, and Ricky Nicol, Chief Executive of Commsworld, has called for public and private sector cooperation to address the matter before it's 'too late'.
"The majority of advertised fibre connections are solely to the cabinet, relying on antiquated and comparatively slow copper to deliver data to the building," he stated.
"This is an impending crisis that threatens the future health of our economy in an evermore digital world.
"Every new copper cable laid in Scotland builds in years of inconvenience as roads will need to be redug when the inevitable upgrades take place. In rural areas especially, it is a sticking plaster.
"In a number of European countries, tech infrastructure of this kind is a public utility receiving heavy government investment.
"More cooperation is needed across the board and greater incentives and investment needed to ensure that businesses and consumers are receiving the kinds of speeds they deserve."
Nicol says that just 2% of buildings in the UK benefit from FTTP, mainly in London and the south east. This contrasts unfavourably with Spain which enjoys 80% provision, and the 70% found uniformly across Scandinavian countries.
"There is not a company out there that does not depend to some extent on the country's digital infrastructure, not just to keep afloat but to deliver the quality that keeps pace with the best in the world," emphasised Nicol.
"As computational power grows, file sizes increase and with them the products and services offered across the globe.
"The advantages of FTTP over traditional networks are clear. Distance does not affect speed, it is much better at dealing with high demand, and it will not be outdated in many decades.
"While we lag behind our mainland friends our current service will suffer, but more importantly it is the continued use of copper infrastructure that will do most harm."