
Parts of the north-east are lagging behind other areas of the UK when it comes to broadband connection.
A study by consumer group Which? evaluated the broadband speed in local authority areas across Scotland, England and Wales.
With an average broadband speed of 10.1 megabits per second (Mbps), Aberdeenshire was found to be the sixth-slowest place out of 32 local authority areas in Scotland.
Orkney (at 3Mbps), Shetland (6.7Mbps), Argyll and Bute (7Mbps) and Moray (7.1Mbps) were also recorded as having the slowest internet connections in the UK. Other areas with slow speeds were the Highlands (8.9Mbps) and the Borders (9.3Mbps).
Meanwhile, Aberdeen was said to have a typical speed of 13.5Mbps.
How the Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire compare to rest of the UK
Which? have created the below table to allow you to see at a glance how your region performs.
You can either search for a region specifically using the tool, or select the column headers to sort the results.
Russell Borthwick, chief executive of Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce, said: “The north-east enjoys better connectivity than many other locations across Scotland but we also have big digital ambitions.
“The £67 million investment into state of the art digital infrastructure, powered by a partnership between Vodafone and City Fibre, will make the Aberdeen City Region one of the best-connected cities on the planet by 2021.”
The research by Which? suggests internet users in some areas could struggle to carry out online banking or use streaming services due to slow internet.
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Councillor Douglas Lumsden, co-leader of Aberdeen City Council and convener of the city growth and resources committee, said: “We recognise the importance of digital infrastructure in realising our ambitions for Aberdeen as a global city – with the council making significant investment and also establishing partnerships that are attracting major private sector investment.
“Through partnership working with CityFibre and Vodafone, a £40m project to make Aberdeen the country’s first gigabit city is well under way.”
West Dunbartonshire, Inverclyde and Dundee have the fastest broadband speeds, the research suggested.
Edinburgh was said to have a regular speed of 17.1Mbps and Glasgow 16.2.
Alex Neill, from Which?, said: “It’s incredibly frustrating that so many Scots are still struggling to get a good broadband connection when so many of us rely heavily on the internet to carry out important everyday tasks.
“The Scottish Government must now press ahead with plans to provide 100% of the homes in Scotland with a decent broadband connection and make sure that no-one is at a disadvantage because of where they live.”
The Scottish Government said delivering high-speed broadband in rural areas like Aberdeenshire was more challenging but it was making good progress.

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