Press & Policy

A century ago, business communication relied on letters carried by post and rail, terse telegrams and, increasingly, the telephone. Connecting with a customer, supplier or colleague in another part of the country could take hours or days.

Today, that same exchange can happen in seconds.

Video calls, cloud-based systems, online sales, digital payments and instant access to customers around the world have transformed the way we work and do business. But while the technology has changed beyond recognition, the principle has not: businesses can only compete, grow and reach new markets if they are properly connected.

For firms across Scotland, reliable digital connectivity is now part of the basic infrastructure of doing business.

It can allow a rural business to reach customers internationally, help employers recruit beyond their immediate area and give smaller firms access to technology that was once the preserve of much larger organisations.

As technologies such as artificial intelligence, automation and cloud computing become more commonplace, that underlying infrastructure will only become more important.

Significant progress has already been made. Openreach announced this week that nearly two million homes and businesses across Scotland can now access its full-fibre network.

This reflects a wider expansion in coverage: according to Ofcom’s 2025 Connected Nations report, full-fibre coverage had reached 71% of Scottish homes in July 2025, after a further 250,000 premises gained access over the previous year. Take-up is also rising, reaching 43% of premises where full fibre is available.

This expanding network has the potential to support higher productivity, wider market access and new ways of working across Scotland.

But the next stage of the journey is likely to be more difficult.

Scotland’s geography presents obvious challenges. Full-fibre coverage reached 76% of urban homes in 2025, according to Ofcom, but only 50% in rural Scotland. Reaching rural and island communities can be more complex and expensive, while older buildings in our towns and cities bring a different set of issues.

Tenements are a good example. Installing new infrastructure can require access to communal areas and agreement between multiple parties. Elsewhere, networks may need to cross privately owned land, bringing additional practical and administrative challenges.

None of these issues are insurmountable, but they underline the importance of cooperation between industry, government, local authorities, property owners and communities as the rollout continues.

There is also an opportunity to think more carefully about how digital infrastructure fits alongside other forms of investment.

Better coordination between roadworks, utilities and telecommunications projects can reduce disruption and avoid unnecessary duplication. Reusing existing ducts and poles, where possible, can also help limit excavation, waste and carbon.

As new homes and commercial developments are built, digital connectivity also needs to be considered from the outset, rather than treated as something to retrofit later.

Of course, infrastructure alone does not deliver productivity. The real economic value comes when businesses are able to make use of it.

For SMEs, stronger connectivity can make it easier to adopt cloud software, sell online, improve customer service, automate routine processes and access new markets. For larger firms, it can support increasingly data-intensive operations and the adoption of new technologies.

That means skills matter just as much as cables and connections.

Businesses need access to people with the confidence and capability to use digital tools effectively, while schools, colleges and universities have an important role in ensuring that digital, data, AI and cyber skills keep pace with the needs of the economy. That is why Scottish Chambers has called for a Digital Skills Guarantee, giving learners from secondary education through adulthood consistent access to up-to-date digital, data, AI and cyber skills, aligned with what employers actually need.

For Scotland, the opportunity is significant.

Better connectivity cannot remove the challenges of geography, but it can reduce the distance between businesses and their customers, employees and markets. It can support stronger rural economies, help businesses grow from wherever they are based and ensure communities across Scotland can participate fully in an increasingly digital economy.

The task now is to build on the progress already made and make sure infrastructure, adoption and skills move forward together.

A hundred years on, the tools may be very different. But for business, the value of being connected remains much the same.