03/05/2016 Scotland 2016

Broadband is three times faster in urban areas

What can be done to bridge the digital divide?

Slow broadband is damaging business in rural areas.

Why is it taking so long to bring communications up to speed

And they say the only poll that matters is on election day,

but can opinion polls actually shape the outcome?

If you live in a rural area, then you're likely to be

While much of urban Scotland already benefits from superfast broadband,

in more remote parts speeds sometimes are still no better than

With just two days until election day, Ian Hamilton's been to Skye

and found that poor mobile and broadband coverage is a key

And he's spoken to one community that decided to take matters

Some locals say on Skye that their ancient landscape has moved faster

than today's broadband speeds. There is no doubt that the space and

scenery makes it a desirable place to live, but if you have to work or

run a business, not having the tools to do so can be frustrating. People

have been complaining about rubbish broadband. Not only that, the mobile

signals are bad. I have three mobile phones here and none of them can get

3G or 4G networks. You don't have too go that far out of area to lose

connections. This is a massive problem. We are now leaving ten one

macro and heading for a community that got so restricted by slow

broadband speeds, they decided to do something about it themselves. A

not-for-profit company brings affordable broadband speeds to this

community. As a lad he wandered far away... This woman makes you Tube

films for music festivals. Jan says her regular provider was not fast

enough for her to upload her films. She says she would never have built

this magnificent home if she had not had decent Internet speeds. It means

people can work in an area like this where you want to be. You are not in

the rat race, you are not in the city and your market and customers

could be anywhere, but you can get your work to them quickly and easily

and efficiently. What happens here? It is recognise that more than 90%

of households in Scotland have access to broadband, but the many,

particularly in rural areas, the speeds are so poor, it is no better

than dial-up. This is what motivated Chris to create the company. We

created it in 2012, the pilot was installed in 2013. The surveys were

provided to the sponsors and by September of that year we started.

That was with a police line -- that was with a police line and 100

customers. The family croft is used as a relay point for other

customers. There have been a 40% increase in the rentals for his

cabins after the internets because increased. It will be slow or the

time. It was not making our job easy as far as talking to our clients via

the Internet. It is a key elements? Absolutely. It is for us. We have

the group coming into night... At this hotel Duncan Gibson, chef and

hotel manager, is repairing for lunch. He was involved in the early

stages of setting up the network. It is a least line connection 14 miles

away. It is bounced from a signal from a fibre-optic labour that is

bounced wireless up Ben Nevis and then it is bounced to a high point

in the village where it is received and then bounced down into the

village. Those who have connection have a little receiver on the side

of their house. After we did the initial pilot scheme in the hotel,

we invited all the villagers to come round with their laptops and phones

to try it and it was a one megabyte connection, which was in this day

and age not a lot, but when you were looking at 0.02 previously, there

was a lot of joy in the village, and a lot of excitement at the prospect

of getting this and getting it faster than we would normally. We

are actually still waiting for a proper fibre-optic connection, and

this is now three years down the line. So is it time to rethink how

we deliver affordable fast broadband to rural areas? I think the

politicians should champion for the little guy in third of just

listening to the big companies that are doing and have all the

facilities and the engineering power and the manpower behind them to

provide things which they are promising, but not really providing.

Where as we are a small bunch of a people and we are doing the

installations and are doing their work basically in the 5% that is not

being provided by the larger companies. Reliable fast broadband

makes business grow. It persuades people to live and work in

Scotland's rural rural areas -- rural areas. If broadband is

prioritise, economic growth will follow.

Well joining me from around Scotland to discuss this

In Stornaway, Rhoda Grant for Labour, in Inverness,

Drew Hendry for the SNP, Alex Johnstone from

the Conservatives in Aberdeen and here in the studio

is Katy Gordon from the Liberal Democrats.

Drew Henry, we heard in the film there prioritise fast broadband and

mobile reception and economic growth will follow. It sounds simple. What

is the problem? It is simple and that is what needs to happen. That

is why the Scottish government have invested ?400 million in

prioritising broadband for oral areas over the past few years. That

is why the first Minister has committed the money for every home

to be connected to broadband. When the five G spectrum is released,

they must allow rule areas to be at the front of the queue. -- rural

areas. Is it something the UK government will prioritise? The UK

government along with the Scottish government and local authorities are

already pouring millions of pounds into the process of trying to

improve broadband speeds in rural areas. What worries me is that there

are two things going on here. Firstly there politicians promising

things like 100% broadband coverage, which I welcome, but I doubt if the

technology is mature enough to achieve that within the timescale

they are talking about. Secondly, all these millions of pounds have

gone into the hands of contractors, maybe BT, these seem to be not going

out to be peripheries of Scotland where broadband will make the

biggest difference. Read a grant in Stornoway, we heard there that

politicians should be the champion of the smaller guy. How big a

problem is this? Broadband is essential, like roads or

electricity. If you look at some of the rural areas, crofters have to

fill in tax forms online with broadband they don't have. It is

difficult for them to get information back to the government.

Small businesses are the same. How can they market their products

without access to broadband? Smaller communities are lagging behind. The

Scottish government promised 95% coverage by the end of next year. We

will be lucky if we see 70% coverage in some of the remote rural areas.

They are wondering when on earth it is going to come. You need to look

at different solutions, not just the fibre roll-out we are seeing. We

need to help communities like the one that was in your interview. They

are resilient and did it themselves and there are communities who are

doing different things to make sure they themselves get broadband, but

there are communities that don't have those leaders feared that can

take that on and they are going to be left behind. They are the ones

arguably who need it and there needs to be a step change in delivery.

Stop focusing on getting 4G and five G out to urban areas. We need to

make sure there is a decent broadband service in all areas

before we use money in the urban areas. The Liberal Democrats

manifesto said you were troubled the broadband fund which is currently 9

million. Whether that money come from? We have announced the new

borrowing powers will be used. It is over and above the 20 million we are

allowed to use. We know how important it is. I don't think there

is a disagreement among the political parties that it is crucial

that the rule areas of Scotland which can contribute much to the

economy need help. -- rural areas. Drew Henry, the criticisms from the

parties on either side of you is that you are overpromising. You are

saying by the end of next year there will be 95% coverage, but as Rhoda

Grant says, you will be lucky if it is 70% in some last-macro areas. I

do think she has been paying attention to what has been happening

in the Highlands and Islands. I have seen what has been happening. I

Osgood, walk in my shoes. I represent areas in the Highlands and

Islands as well... Will go and talk to the people. People are seeing

dramatic improvements. That's because of the increase in funding

from the government. You have to remember where this came from. It is

coming from a period of neglect from the previous administration. That is

a long time ago. The SNP have made the promise... One at a time. ?400

million invested so far, on target delivery and 100% of homes and

businesses in Scotland by 2021. The Labour manifesto said that you make

provision of superfast broadband a national priority, how can you make

that happen faster than the SNP? Because we have to look at how we

get out to the communities and stop focusing on urban communities, we

need to power communities that can do it for themselves but we also

need to look at setting up an infrastructure that the government

can provide for communities that don't have the ability to do it

themselves, to do that for them, and until we actually have a strategy in

place that reaches those hard to reach communities there is not a

hope of getting 100%. There is a lot of good work being done by

communities and that is being supported by community broadband

Scotland and millions of pounds have been invested in helping committees

deliver the systems where they need them. Alex Johnstone, what speed of

broadband to you think your moral constituents should expect? I think

what we are cocky about here is high-speed broadband, or superfast

broadband as the marketing gurus tell as it should be called. But in

order to achieve that I think we have to develop technologies that

perhaps are not mature yet, that means that the vast amount of money

that has been poured in by government at every level needs to

be concentrating on achieving these objectives and we must not make the

mistake of allowing the contractors who are dealing with these contracts

to simply pursue the wall hanging fruit. This is all about getting the

service out to the geographical peripheries and not about dealing

with problems that as a broader grand said should be dealt with on a

commercial basis. With the Conservatives spent more to try and

achieve that? We are certainly willing to put more money in, we

would be happy to see another ?5 million per year budgeted to this,

but there is already a huge amount of money being put in and at the

moment I don't think we are seeing the results for that. Katy Gordon,

the recent report by off, showed speed in rural areas have barely

increased since 2013. Is it any wonder when we see communities

taking matters into their own hands? I don't think it is surprising, when

we were in government in Westminster reinvested almost 800 million in

going to the 90% and then 95% coverage but it is still not enough.

We did also press for the universal service obligation because that

would mean that there is a requirement that the service has to

be delivered everywhere and we are glad to see the UK Government is now

pursuing this. But I also know, I think which in federally, the

consumer magazine, talks about the potential for compensation and a

statutory requirement for open session for interruptions in supply

and we are quite interested in that kind of idea because I think the

problem is the company is basically what to do the low hanging fruit as

Alex mentioned, and what is the incentive for them to go to those

hardest to reach? Have to get the commitment to the hardest to reach

and it is a mix of carrot and stick. We can do the investment and maybe

the statutory compensation introduction would help with that.

Drew Henry, what is the incentive to get to those hard to reach

communities? There are still issues in communications that must be

reached by superfast broadband, one of the things I have just mentioned

is about the ability to switch contracts or cancel contracts with

suppliers if they do not deliver. That is something that is being

brought forward. We have also managed, I have managed to persuade

off come to support my proposal to allow people to do that with mobile:

-- mobile phone contracts as well and that is being taken forward. The

incentive there at the moment is for people to be able to, for those

companies to be able to hold on their customers, but in the future

there must be irregular precondition for people getting licences for

these contracts -- there must be a regular Tory condition for people

getting these licences for these contracts that people in hard to

reach areas must get the best service first and then work in. Now

we must leave it. Thank you all. If you want the odd electoral myth

busted, our special correspondent During this campaign he's already

questioned if turnout really will be key to the result,

and whether all politics is local. But what about that other line

the politicians trot out when faced with a difficult opinion poll,

that the only poll that We should warn you that this film

contains closeups of Ken which those of a sensitive nature

may find disturbing. -- here is Ken with his crystal

ball. Nye Bevan didn't like a lot of

things but he really disliked opinion polls. He said they took the

we all know, every new ball can predict the future -- opinion polls

can predict the future. Actually that is wrong, they cannot predict

the future at all, what they can do at best is give you an accurate

snapshot of public opinion at any given time and as any politician

will tell you, they do not pay any attention to the opinion polls. Yeah

right! All opinion polls count, pupils, accurate polls, rogue polls,

the polls matter because they help to create the story of the election

campaign. And that story can of itself help determine the outcome,

so politicians a huge and attention to the polls and do not believe any

politician who says they don't. Because the do. -- because they do.

There was one recent campaign where an opinion poll prediction influence

is not how voters behaved, it certainly has the politicians

behaved towards the voters. There is no doubt that the way in which the

Scottish independence campaign was fought by the no side in the last

fortnight or so was very heavily influenced by opinion polls that

suggested the race was really narrowing and certainly one opinion

poll that says that actually the yes side was ahead. It was in the

immediately that opinion poll that George Osborne and Gordon Brown

signalled that the Unionists would indeed come together, come up with

proposals for more devolution. Seems the opinion polls do not just matter

in a referendum. If people suggest you're down and out it is very hard

to persuade the public you can win, there is a famous ball that came out

a few weeks before the first Scottish parliament election in 1999

that suggested a decline in SNP support. We got major front-page

treatment. The SNP reacted to that poll by changing its entire campaign

strategy, so polls do matter. Only poll that decide to run Scotland is

the one in which you hold the cards, the one in which you cast ballots

and let's face it if opinion polls were that accurate we would not have

to hold elections. Where would be the fun in that?

Here now to discuss that and the day's other news are two

seasoned political journalists, Lynsey Bews

from the Press Association and from the Sunday

Welcome. Lindsay, was Nye Bevan right? Do you think opinion polls

take the poetry out of politics? I don't know I think they gave us

something to talk about during an election campaign and I have to

agree with what Kevin crennels pointing out in your piece, that

they do tend to influence the parties and shape the party 's

campaign to certain extent. We were looking at the examples of the

independence referendum, the reaction to that poll which could

yet ahead after the game so much mental strength that campaign. And

actually if you look back on the 2011 Scottish elections Labour on

the slide in the polls to the point where ten days from the last vote

last time around they be launched their campaign had changed their

strategy entirely, which had been fighting the Tories at Westminster,

they turned their attention to fighting the SNP on the issue of

independence. I think the opinion polls certainly have a lot of

influence over what the party still is chillingly campaign. What about

this campaign, Tom? How have the polls shoot this campaign? On one

level they have made it an exciting for the main headline result, the

SNP seem to be comfortable ahead, but they have provided drama and

tension around the race for second place with the Labour and the

Conservatives neck and neck. They do modify behaviour as Lundy says

because they are great incentivises for campaigns, for Labour they are

desperately trying to remain the opposition, for the Conservatives

they are desperately trying to become the opposition. And what

Kevin Pringle said, the useful for parties of the marginal so that the

Greens have had a decent strike in the polls, people know that if they

vote for then there is a realistic chance they will be elected to the

Greens, it reinforces the issue that the Greens in a credible party to

vote for. On the other hand, you can park polling very cruelly and they

are falling apart. With the Conservatives and some polls pushing

Labour into third place, that raises expectations, doesn't look then like

a failure on election night if they don't achieve that? It is

interesting because Ruth Davidson has put herself in that position

this time around, she has taken a look at the patterns that the polls

are producing and has decided to head the election strategy on this

battle for second place in becoming what she calls the official

opposition to hold the SNP to account should he win this majority.

Now if Ruth Davidson feels to do that that does raise questions about

whether or not she can continue as leader of the Scottish Conservatives

because she has not been able to achieve the objectives that she set

out in this campaign. With the polls and suggesting that it is a foregone

conclusion, that it is just second place to play for, do you think that

is going to have an effect on time-out if people think there is no

point? There is some indication that turnout might be returning to its

depressing 50% level it has been to over the last couple of elections. I

hope not. Scotland had a post-referendum bounce and we were

5% higher than the rest of the UK in the general election for incidents

because more people are engaged and made the effort to vote but I hope

there is not a slide. I hope some -- I think some of the SNP people are

worried that people could get complacent. Now on to that picture

of the First Minister holding the Sun newspaper after they endorsed

the SNP on Friday. It has been doing the rounds on social media with

critics saying it was in bad taste to pose with the paper on the week

the Hillsborough inquest ruled 96 Liverpool fans were unlawfully

killed. Nicola Sturgeon rarely seems to put a foot wrong, do you think

this was ill judged? I think some people have been offended by the

fact that he has held this front page up, others have said that

parties have been courting the sun over the years for various reasons

of trying to gain support from them during elections, referendums and

whatever else. The timing of it, you know, it is questionable, however

Nicola Sturgeon has not commented on this particular picture. She has

commented however on her sympathy for the health care families when

the inquest results came out, so it is one that people will judge in

different ways I think. On social media there were even some SNP

supporters claiming the photo has been for two shopped and that she

had actually been holding up the Dandy comic. I did check with the

SNP that this is not true. Interesting that the consternation

it seems that cost on social media. Will it do any damage? I don't think

so. If she was standing in Liverpool, perhaps, but this is a

completely different circumstances north of the border. The villains

were always in South Yorkshire Police. The sun aggravated things

with it insensitive inaccurate coverage but it was a long time ago

and it is not happening in Scotland. Any other party would give their eye

teeth to have an endorsement from the Scottish Sun and don't let them

tell you otherwise. We saw Katie Dugdale and she said that the First

Minister may regret posing with the Sun newspaper. -- we saw Kezia

Dugdale. I think it is a bit of political opportunism, as Tom said

any other party to get that endorsement from one of the biggest

selling newspapers in the country would love to get that endorsement,

and we have seen in the past other political parties courting the sun

before so I think there is a little bit of politics going on there.

Because Sturgeon said nothing about it, she probably wants to move on

from now. We have seen Labour continue to be hit by allegations of

anti-Semitism over the weekend, do you think that is going to have an

impact on their electoral fortunes in any of the elections across the

UK? I don't think it will have a specific resonance because I don't

think it will generally -- out of their people generally look at the

Labour Party and think here is a constitutional way anti-Semitic

party. People might look at Ukip and think a bit of, I think a lot of

those full-colour closet racists but it would look a favour and think I

bet a lot of those folk are anti-Semites. It does expose a

somewhat divided, chaotic party with somewhat shambolic drama between

John Mann and can live in, shouting at one another. That is a dreadful

picture before the elections would reinforces the fact that they had a

party in crisis and a broad ranging crisis. The conservatives are

divided over academies and Europe, but Labour is a party divided over

its leader, which is a very deep split indeed so it reminds people of

that. It is one of the main issues that put people off labour but I

don't think in and of itself it will put people off because people feel

Labour is anti-Semitic. Is this a big issue for Labour do you think? I

agree with Tom, I don't think it will impact on them to greatly

because I don't think it will look at the Labour Party and say that

this is an anti-Semitic party and that this is so deep-rooted in the

party that it batted out and reaches into all areas of the party. Jeremy

Corbyn has other problems as well. I'm back again tomorrow

night, usual time.