News Focus: Broadcasting regulators have unveiled their latest findings. Phil Miller investigates

Its 93 pages reveal just how quickly Scotland is adopting a digital future. Ofcom today released its third Communications Market Report - detailing the broadcast industry regulator's view of developments in public-service broadcasting, pay-TV uptake and internet and mobile phone use.

The report reveals a host of geographical differences.

The digital divide
Glasgow is seriously behind not only the rest of the UK, but the rest of Scotland, when it comes to the take-up of broadband internet. Broadband is being used by only 32% of households in the city, well below the overall Scottish figure of 53%.

It is also the lowest uptake percentage of the 21 urban areas surveyed in the UK by Ofcom.

Looking more closely at the figures for Scotland's largest city reveal a clear social divide. In the ABC1 social category, the wealthiest sections of society, broadband take-up is at 61%. That is higher than the overall Glasgow figure but lower than other cities in Scotland, where those in the ABC1 category have even higher take-up rates - 79% in Dundee, 80% in Aberdeen and 71% in Edinburgh.

But it is in the households with less income that the broadband take-up is the worst - in the C2DE households in the city, broadband take-up is only 10%.

This, again, contrasts unfavourably with the same social groups in other parts of Scotland: in Aberdeen, broadband use in C2DE groups is 48%, in Edinburgh it is 47% and in the Highlands and Islands it is 71%.

The figures only refer to household broadband usage - leaving workplace or internet cafe usage out, as well as use via slower dial-up connections. In Glasgow, many access the internet in places such as their local libraries.

Vicki Nash, director of Ofcom in Scotland, said the city's figures were "stark" and Ofcom would be looking to talk to Glasgow City Council and the Scottish Government about low broadband uptake.

The low figures have reverberations across the media and the public sphere. UK broadcasters spend £150m on putting public-service material online. National governmental and local government services are available online, and even newspapers - the traditional home of information and breaking news - are shifting their focus to online services.

The lack of broadband take-up in Glasgow is, therefore, a major issue.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the low uptake of broadband, only 20% of Glaswegians have watched TV or video online, and 22% have listened to radio online.

Ms Nash said: "There really is a big, big difference between Glasgow and elsewhere. It is not about the availability of broadband to Glasgow: it is almost universally available, should people want it.

"There are implications for the public-service content being put online - that £150m is a sizeable amount of money and there is a sizeable number of people not using it.

"I think these figures throw up some interesting discussions, for Glasgow City Council, for the Scottish Government. People are clearly not seeing the benefits of taking up broadband: is it a cost issue? Or are they interested in other things? Because it is clearly not being accessed."

One contributing factor to the lack of use of broadband in Glasgow's households is computer ownership. Only 44% of households own personal computers or laptops, far below Scotland's average of 64% and the lowest in the UK's urban areas.

Ms Nash added: "You cannot force people to use broadband, and as a regulator we cannot force people to use any kind of technology. But are these figures significant? Should we be concerned about it? The figures are there, and they are stark."

As for the future of broadband use, in a survey included in the Ofcom study, 44% in "urban Scotland" said they were certain not to get broadband in the next year, with 23% saying it was very unlikely they would upgrade to broadband. Only 2% said they were certain to get broadband.

Couch-potato Scotland
Scots like to sit and watch TV more than anyone else in the British Isles. Viewers in Scotland are the heaviest users of TV in the UK, taking in an average of four hours per person per day. This is higher than the UK-wide average of 3.6 hours each per day.

In Scotland, 56% of individuals have pay television - packages such as Sky, Setanta or cable TV - which is higher than anywhere else in the UK. Some 51% of Glasgow households have pay-TV packages.

In addition, 85% of households in Scotland have digital television. Glasgow leads the nation, with 95% of households having digital TV.

Broadcasters - and a problem for ITV
On the broadcasters' side of the equation, the BBC and STV together spent £65m on originated output in 2007, accounting for one-fifth of the BBC and ITV's total spending on output from the designated nations and regions. This is a fall of 0.5% on 2006, and, according to Ofcom, this fall was "driven principally by STV's declining spend on non-news/non-current affairs output for viewers in Scotland", which fell by nearly 30% between 2006 and 2007.

Ofcom is unhappy with ITV as a whole, as it has failed to meet its quota, set by the regulator, for content made outside London. The BBC, Channel Four and Five all met their quotas relatively comfortably. Of ITV's programming spend, 50% is meant to be spent outside London. However, Ofcom has calculated that only 44% of ITV's outgoings have been spent outside London.

Ofcom said: "ITV's failure to meet the value element of its out-of-London quota is a serious matter, and one which is the subject of further consideration by Ofcom with a view to regulatory action."

Using a mobile
The use of mobile phones in Scotland is slightly below the UK average, with 81% of adults in Scotland using them, compared with 84% nationwide. The highest level of mobile use is in Dundee, where 91% of the population uses mobile phones, with the lowest being in the Borders (70%). Dundee also has the highest number of mobile-only households, at 22%, with Glasgow at 20%.

3G phones, which are best for mobile internet use, are owned by only 14% of the population of Scotland. In Glasgow, 18% use 3G phones.

Radio
The most popular radio station in Scotland, according to the Ofcom report, is BBC Radio Scotland, with almost one million adults listening on a weekly basis in 2007. Of the commercial stations, Real Radio leads the pack, with 789,000 listeners a week, followed by Radio Clyde on 620,000 and Radio Forth on 316,000.

However, the number of people who listen to local commercial radio is higher in Scotland than the rest of the UK. At 43%, the share of all radio hours achieved by local commercial radio was much higher than the 32% UK average.

Radio, overall, is used by 88.6% of the Scottish population on a weekly basis, slightly below the UK average, which is 90.1%. The average Scot listens to radio for 22.9 hours a week.




Library where more surf the net than borrow books

ALISON CAMPSIE

THE free internet on offer at Gorbals Library has been a revolution for many. For Bill Irvine, 63, "it has opened up a new world".

Mr Irvine has a computer at home but travels to the Glasgow library to use the internet and get out of the house. He is recovering from an illness and says being able to use the PCs in a friendly atmosphere and take courses in different programs has been a big part of his recovery.

"I do have a computer at home but I am not online," he said. "It is much easier for me to come down here and spend a few hours. It is free and it gets me out of the house. I am not going to meet anyone by sitting in the house on my own.

"I have done a few classes here too and built a website. It really has opened up a new world for me."

There are 46 PCs at Gorbals Library and at 3pm yesterday, all but four or five were whirring away. There are more computers here than at any other public place in the city.

The free internet has a crucial role in the education and entertainment of local people. Duty manager Irene Turnbull said there were more than 2500 internet bookings a week at Gorbals Library, compared with 1500 book issues.

Ms Turnbull said: "A lot of people come in to use the social networking sites, do CVs or job searches. Our most popular CD-Rom is the driving theory test. E-mail is another big thing for users. There is a large asylum-seeker population in Gorbals so a lot of people come in here to keep in touch with life back home."

Users yesterday included Nicola Miles, 21, a tourism and business management student revising for exams. "I have a laptop at home but no connection yet," she said. "I just haven't had the time to get it sorted out. This place is five minutes from where I live so it's easy just to pop down."

Ashley Hamilton, 19, visits the library around three times a week to use the computers. She has just qualified as a hairdresser and surfs the internet to look for equipment, jobs and further-learning DVDs.

"Places like this are really important so that everyone can get on the internet. I don't know what you would do without it now," she said.