Connecting to the internet, using phones and postal services in Scotland
Scotland has had its share of connectivity issues in the past. The rugged terrain in rural and island areas, and its dispersed population in the Highlands and its islands, have made it difficult for fast and high-quality internet to reach everyone. However, the country is currently undertaking what has been called “the highest value telecommunications infrastructure investment in all of Europe”, in order to make sure that a high-speed fibre optic broadband reaches the 95% of the country. Scotland also boasts a well-developed telecom network, and enjoys the Royal Mail postal services.
Telecoms & internet
Internet has been a somewhat thorny issue in Scotland the last few years. Rural areas have had slow or non-existent internet coverage, and wifi even in big cities had been known not to cover every spot. Thankfully, this is currently changing. On top of the existing fibre network, a 1,200 km of new fibre infrastructure which includes 400 km of subsea cabling is being installed across the country, helping to bring a superfast broadband connection to even the most remote areas. The current plan is for speeds of at least 30 Mbps being available to every home and business in Scotland by the end of 2021, but until then the government is offering a Better Broadband Subsidy Scheme that will bring speeds of at least 2 Mbps to addresses where the new broadband is not yet available.
Find out if your Scottish address is eligible for a Better Broadband Subsidy Scheme and apply.
When it comes to telecommunications, however, all Scottish cities and villages enjoy high-quality coverage. The four main service providers are Vodafone, O2, EE (formerly Orange) and 3. As a general consensus, EE has better coverage in even the more remote parts of the country, steadily providing 4G when it comes to mobile data. O2 and Vodafone have been improving their coverage as well. All provide both pay-as-you-go sim cards and monthly packages.
Good to know:
Phone booths are still a thing in Scotland, and a very charming one at that. There are currently two types of phone booths: the old models that take coins and the new ones that use prepaid phone cards (or even credit cards). You can buy phone cards at grocery stores and petrol stations.
Nowadays, not many people in Scotland use landlines. A 2014 poll showed that 38% of people didn't even know what their landline number was, as they only used the line for internet access. When the new broadband coverage reaches all of the country, it is estimated that the use of landlines will decline further.
Postal services
Mail is provided 6 days a week and post offices are usually open from 9 a.m. to 17:30 a.m. As part of the UK, Scotland is serviced by the Royal Mail primarily, as well as several other providers like the UK Mail which is now part of DHL.
Find the nearest post office to you by using the Branch Finder function on the Post Office website.
Good to know:
Many physical post offices have closed, especially in rural areas, but the Royal Mail is offering a service called Click and Drop, which allows you to buy and print postage online.
Useful links:
Superfast Broadband ' Digital Scotland
EE (formerly Orange)
O2
Vodafone
Three
