Scotland 5G Centre (S5GC): evaluation

Introduction

This report presents the findings of an independent evaluation of the Scotland 5G Centre (herein referred to as the S5GC) which was core funded by the Scottish Government since its inception in October 2019 until October 2025.^[3]

The evaluation was commissioned by the Office of the Chief Economic Adviser (OCEA) division within the Scottish Government and was undertaken by EKOS between August 2025 and January 2026.

This report presents the findings of a qualitative impact evaluation, the aim of which was to engage with businesses and organisations to understand the impact of the S5GC’s support. This included:

• exploration of the extent to which the S5GC’s support facilitated take up of new technology, and the subsequent impacts – including but not limited to productivity impacts, efficiency impacts, growth impacts, enabling expansion into new markets.
• identification of ways in which the S5GC’s support could have been more effective. For those organisations for which desired impacts did not materialise the research explored how support could have been more useful.
• where S5GC supported organisations in bidding for funding, the research explored the extent to which the S5GC’s support was effective.

1.1 Context

The S5GC was Scotland's national hub for accelerating the deployment and adoption of 5G connectivity across industry and public sectors. It was a partnership between the Scottish Government, academia and industry, aimed at unlocking Scotland's digital potential.

Digital connectivity is widely recognised as a key driver of economic growth and productivity, and a benefit to businesses, individuals, and communities. The inexorable shift of services online has meant that access to the internet is now considered an everyday essential, and government policy has long prioritised improving and extending this access across the whole of the country.

As such, in addition to fixed line connectivity, the last decade or so has seen explosive growth in mobile connectivity through 3G and 4G networks, enabled and driven by the rapid uptake of smartphones. These developments have brought huge changes to society with video phone calls, content streaming services and faster broadband connectivity including Wi-Fi.

5G, the newest generation of mobile connectivity, was recognised as a strategic opportunity for Scotland to harness and lead in its adoption and application. However, Scotland continues to face challenges with mobile connectivity largely as a result its large rural landmass. In its latest Connected Nations report^[4], Ofcom notes that 5G geographic coverage in Scotland is progressing but at a modest pace. Over one-third (37%) of Scotland’s landmass has coverage from at least one Mobile Network Operator (MNO) at the High Confidence level (up from 33% in 2024). The range between MNOs of 5G geographic coverage at the High Confidence level is 7-21% (up from 6-19% in 2024) and 3-18% at the Very High Confidence level (up from 3-16% in 2024). These are the lowest 5G geographic coverage ranges of all four UK nations.

The establishment of the S5GC aimed to drive economic growth and competitiveness, close the digital divide between rural and urban areas, foster collaboration across sectors, and stimulate innovation. As such, the S5GC was established to help businesses and industry harness its opportunities.

1.2 Evaluation Process

The impact evaluation methodology included:

• a desk review of information and data provided by the Scottish Government and the S5GC. This included a review of business plans, financial data, annual reports, case studies as well as published research and relevant strategy documents.
• 22 remote interviews with current and former S5GC staff and board members, the founding partners, Scottish Government representatives, and wider external stakeholders.
• 15 remote interviews (25% of provided sample) with organisations and companies that engaged with the S5GC in some way. The list provided by the client was for the period 2023-2025 and included around 57 unique contacts. There was limited response to the introductory and follow-up emails, and this may reflect varying levels of direct engagement with the S5GC.