Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Liz Smith has hit out at the quality of broadband services in parts of her constituency in the wake of a recent report from Ofcom.

The publication revealed the average modem sync speed in Perth and Kinross is 6.9Mbps, compared with the Scottish and UK figures of 7.6 and 7.5Mbps respectively.

Just a third of homes in the region have super-fast broadband access, while 13.4 per cent of properties can only receive speeds of less than 2Mbps.

Some 67 per cent of residential premises in Perth and Kinross are hooked up to a broadband connection, just below the UK-wide average of 68 per cent.

Responding to the report, Ms Smith described the results as "deeply disturbing" and announced she is stepping up her campaign to improve coverage in the area.

"Part of the problem in many communities in Perthshire is that broadband access is too often either slow or non-existent," she was quoted by the Courier as saying.

Her comments have been echoed by Perthshire Chamber of Commerce, which warned that rural areas could become a "business backwater" unless urgent action is taken.

Stephen Leckie, president of the organisation, said rural and home-based enterprises have traditionally thrived in Perthshire, but they will "struggle and die" if they are forced to put up with slow connections while their rivals in urban areas have fast broadband services.

"Access to the internet is a key factor in today's fast-moving business world and contracts can be won or lost on the speed and efficiency of communications," he added.

Further research published by Ofcom this month showed Scotland has the lowest broadband take-up of any UK nation at 61 per cent of homes, 13 percentage points less than the British average.

Vicki Nash, director of Ofcom Scotland, said the country is at risk of "being left behind".

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16th August 2011

HA!! come to Glasgow if you want a pathetic broadband service,Im convinced the providers are still using the original phone line equipment that was installed when the phone was invented, unstable and unreliable, and we call ourselves a Technoligically savvy population, yeah right