Scots switching on to ADSL

Consumers in Scotland are switching over to ADSL broadband faster than any other parts of the UK, according to new figures from incumbent telco BT. Aberdeenshire and Shetland have become the first areas in the UK to have more than half of their homes and businesses hooked up ADSL.But Scotland dominates BT Wholesale’s top ten league table of ADSL broadband take up in counties around the UK. Aberdeenshire takes the top slot with a 50.9 per cent adoption rate, followed closely by Shetland with 50.7 per cent.Third and fourth place are taken by Stirling and Aberdeen, while Moray completes the all-Scottish top five with 47.9 per cent.The Welsh local authority of Monmouthshire comes sixth with 47.5 per cent, while England finally makes an appearance in seventh place with 46.8 per cent adoption. The Scottish national average for ADSL is 33.3 per cent, ahead of the UK average of 31.2 per cent. Brendan Dick, BT Scotland director, said: “These areas have consistently been among the leaders in the UK for broadband adoption, which emphasises the innovative nature of their people and businesses.”Fast internet access is now making a huge contribution to the economic success of Scotland, as businesses find new markets and work more efficiently, and households capitalise on the almost limitless abilities of the internet for education, entertainment and shopping.”BT now has 855,000 wholesale broadband connections in Scotland and more than 10.9 million across the UK.