SCOTS consumers are finding that broadband providers are not up to speed when ensuring their customers are getting the service they are paying for.
The latest analysis from Which? show Scottish households are getting typically 58 per cent of the speeds they would expect.
The study involving thousands of Scottish consumers across 32 local authority areas of Scotland showed that while the average expected speeds in the survey were at 46.6mb per second, Scots users were actually getting 26.9mb per second.
The results show that the faster the expected speed, the bigger the gap between what consumers thought they should receive and actual speed recorded in the tests.
West Dunbartonshire which enjoyed the fastest average expected speeds in Scotland of 83.7mb per second were typically getting less than half that (41mb per second).
The areas of Scotland with the worst performance were Inverclyde with consumers getting 48.1 per cent of the speed expected, Glasgow City (48.6 per cent), West Dunbartonshire and East Dunbartonshire (50.8 per cent). They were all areas where expected speeds of over 50mb per second.
The best performing areas were Scottish Borders where consumers were getting 74.7 per cent of the expected speeds, Angus (73.8 per cent), Moray (72.7 per cent) and Midlothian (72.5 per cent).
All these areas were getting expected speeds of 35mb per second or less.
Alex Neill, Which? home services and products managing director said: "People who think they have signed up for faster broadband speeds are the most likely to be disappointed, with our research showing many are generally getting speeds that are much slower than they expected.
“Consumers need to regularly test their broadband speed to check they are getting the service they are paying for. If they aren’t they should contact their provider so that any issues with their service can be resolved.”
In Scotland when consumers were expecting speeds in excess of 30mb per second, they were typically only able to get 56 per cent of the expected speed.
Users expecting internet speeds of between 10 to 30mb per second, however, received 87 per cent of what they expected.
And those expecting to get 10mb per second or lower were able to exceed their expected speed by 29 per cent.
The survey also revealed the huge disparity of actual broadband speeds across Scotland with the fastest in West Dumbartonshire (41mb per second), Dundee City (41mb per second), City of Edinburgh (40.2mb per second and East Renfrewshire (37.9mb per second).
The slowest speeds were found in Orkney with 13.5mb per second and Shetland (13.9mb per second), only just above the the Government’s minimum limit of 10mb per second. Which? launched a Fix Bad Broadband campaign and free speed checker which aims to help consumers discover whether the broadband speed reflects what they signed up for.
The information from the speed checker and complaints tool allowed allow Which? to build up a picture of service across the UK that it can share with government, the regulator and internet providers.
Andrew Glover, chairman of the Internet Service Providers Association said: “ISPs are investing billions in upgrading infrastructure to deliver increased speeds and are committed to providing more accurate and personalised information to customers.
"Recent Ofcom data shows that the average residential connection speed has increased to 36mb per second in November 2016, up from 29mb per second in 2015. Continued investment from ISPs nationally, regionally and locally will continue to see speeds rise.
"A number of factors can affect the actual speed received by an end user and this is why ISPs help manage broadband speeds expectations, including through a code of practice that provides a personalised speed estimate to new customers at point of sale and allows customers to exit a contract if they cannot achieve the speeds estimated.
"In addition, upcoming changes to advertising rules from the Advertising Standards Authority and Committees of Advertising Practice will improve how speeds are advertised. ISPA and its members are actively engaged in this process."
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We are committed to delivering 100% superfast broadband access across Scotland by 2021. This is the most ambitious commitment in the UK – focusing on delivery of speeds over 30mbps – whilst there is still no clarity from the UK Government on how they intend to implement the proposed Universal Service Obligation for broadband – which will deliver just 10mbps.
“Alongside our partners, we have invested over £410 million in the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme and are on track to deliver fibre broadband access to at least 95% of premises across Scotland by end 2017, and that thanks to the programme around 780,000 premises have been connected to fibre.”
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