R100 Interim Evaluation

8 Focus Groups / Interviews

8.1 Overview

8.1.1 As set out in Chapter 5, Stage 2 of the research involved a series of follow-up online focus groups / interviews with residents and businesses identified during the Stage 1 surveys.

8.1.2 As with the Stage 1 surveys, the focus groups / interviews were designed to gather information on the outcomes and impacts of R100 and the extent to which the project is achieving its Investment Objectives. However, while the surveys aimed to gather a representative sample of data, the focus groups / interviews aimed to explore the topic areas covered within the surveys in more depth and gather individual experiences to help supplement and augment the survey findings.

8.1.3 This chapter provides a summary of the findings from the focus groups / interviews. A detailed summary of the approach to the delivery of this element of the research is included in Chapter 5. In summary, six resident focus groups, one resident one-to-one interview and five business one-to-one interviews were held with a total of 49 participants attending (44 residents, and 5 businesses). For ease of reference, the table below shows the breakdown of participants by the three Groups affected by R100.

8.1.4 The chapter is structured around the following broad themes:

• Satisfaction with R100 roll out
• Satisfaction with broadband connectivity (amongst Group 1, 2 and 3 participants)
• Benefits and disbenefits of current connectivity.

8.1.5 As noted in the previous chapters:

• The focus groups were carried out during the R100 rollout and many of those benefitting from R100 have only experienced the improved connectivity for a relatively short period of time. As such, the below narrative will not capture all of the benefits of the programme, with some benefits potentially taking longer to materialise.
• The focus groups contained a high proportion of voucher recipients. The experience of voucher recipients may differ from those who have benefitted via the main contracts, and this should be borne in mind when interpreting the comments detailed below.

8.2 Satisfaction with R100 roll out

8.2.1 There was a level of frustration noted in relation to the communication around the roll out and delivery of the R100 programme.

8.2.2 Many attendees highlighted concerns over there being a lack of communication. There was a clear level of frustration and confusion amongst participants which was borne from there being no clear single point of contact who they could speak to for advice or updates on their particular case. Respondents attempted to gain knowledge through providers (such as BT or Openreach) and / or engaging with their local councillor or council but were generally unsuccessful, with neither entity being able to provide reliable and clear information.

8.2.3 Participants described there being long delays in communication and conflicting information. Echoing the findings of the survey, there was a general lack of awareness of the programme, with some beneficiaries only finding out they were receiving a connection when engineers appeared, or a cabinet was installed.

8.2.4 While some participants had received prior communication, this was not always of a quality that may be expected of a government funded programme. For example, one Group 3 attendee who was due to receive a connection the week following the focus group noted that they received fliers about the scheme but that it looked like ‘junk mail’ and, having never heard of R100 previously, they were therefore initially sceptical and resistant of the work.

8.2.5 While several attendees had used the online postcode checker, they noted that the information included was inaccurate or unhelpful, or that the dates for delivery were continually updated to extend the timeline of their installation.

8.2.6 As a result of the above, many of the Group 3 participants who took part in the focus groups were sceptical about the programme and had a sense of distrust that R100 would ever reach their property.

8.2.7 It is recognised that the focus groups may contain a larger proportion of participants who were dissatisfied with the roll-out / communication as, given their frustration, this group is more likely to respond to the invite to attend. While the above may therefore overstate the problems, it is evident that communication on the roll out has been and / or is an issue for a proportion of R100 beneficiaries.

8.2.8 From an equality perspective, limited and inconsistent communication may disproportionately affect older residents and disabled people, who are more reliant on clear, accessible, and timely information. Unclear communication also risks reinforcing scepticism about public investment initiatives and in rural areas may be interpreted as evidence of being lower priority.

8.3 Satisfaction with broadband connectivity

8.3.1 Given the different levels of connectivity and the unique circumstances amongst each group, this section is divided into sections covering each of the Groups affected by R100 as follows:

• Group 1: those who have been provided with broadband via R100 and have taken up the connection
• Group 2: those who have been provided with broadband via R100 but have not taken up the connection
• Group 3: those who are scheduled to receive broadband via R100 but have not yet been connected

Group 1 – Provided with broadband and taken up the connection

8.3.2 Of the 14 Group 1 attendees:

• seven had been provided with access via the voucher scheme - three via a satellite connection and four via a fixed wireless connection
• seven had received access via the main contracts – one via Fibre to the cabinet, five via Fibre to the premises.

8.3.3 Overall, most (11 of the 14) were satisfied with their connection. However, three voucher recipients were dissatisfied as follows:

Two were dissatisfied as they had initially been provided with a satellite connection but the company who had provided the connection had since gone into liquidation and they were now reliant on 4G connectivity. Both participants noted that they feel they have nowhere else to turn as they have already accessed a voucher via the R100 scheme and may not be entitled to further support.

One was dissatisfied with the speed of their connection and now relies on 4G connectivity.

Group 2 – Provided with broadband but not taken up the connection

8.3.4 Of the 12 Group 2 respondents, all were eligible via the voucher. Of these the majority had existing access to the internet via an ADSL connection, mobile broadband (4G or 3G), or satellite providers such as Starlink. Other than the latter, the majority were dissatisfied with their current connection.

8.3.5 Two participants based in Shetland shared details of disruptions to their existing services and how they are left with no access:

“I live in Shetland… We currently use EE 4G Internet. Which works sometimes, sometimes it doesn't. This time last year it went off and it stayed off for six weeks, so we had absolutely no connection at the house whatsoever.” (Group 2 participant, Shetland)

“I live in Shetland… on one of the islands…One issue we do have is the way the signal is brought from the mainland of Shetland to the island… It's not through a subsea cable; it's actually a radio link about two or three miles between the antennas. Every time a big cruise ship comes in the harbour, it blocks off the signal… we get more than 100 of these a year … morning and night… You get about 3 or 4 minutes cut off … while the ship break breaks the signal.” (Group 2 participant, Shetland)

8.3.6 While the majority of Group 2 participants taking part in the focus groups were dissatisfied with their connection, they had not taken up the R100 service. A variety of reasons for this were provided. Four participants noted that the voucher did not cover the cost of the service they required. For example:

“I contacted about doing a community scheme several years ago and for a community of 220 people, [the broadband provider] suggested it would be £1,000,000” (Group 2 participant, Isle of Skye)

“It comes nowhere near covering the cost of a viable solution for us” (Group 2 participant, Aberdeenshire)

8.3.7 The above respondent also struggled to find a local provider who would provide a connection for them:

“We looked at it on a community level to see whether the voucher scheme would cover the cost of installing fibre for all the properties, and it came up financially we could potentially make it work, but we couldn’t get any of the recommended providers to come out” (Group 2 participant, Angus)

8.3.8 Some participants also noted that they were already tied into a contract and therefore could not sign up via the scheme:

“I got it before I heard about the funding for R100, so I considered cancelling it and signing up again and taking the funding. I didn’t do that though” (Group 2 participant, Perth and Kinross)

8.3.9 One participant mistakenly believed that not taking up the voucher scheme may mean they get access to the full roll out scheme at a later date.

Group 3 – scheduled to receive broadband via R100 but have not yet been connected

8.3.10 As with the Group 2 attendees, the majority of the Group 3 attendees had existing access to the internet via an ADSL connection, mobile broadband (4G or 3G), or satellite providers such as Starlink.

8.3.11 In general, respondents were dissatisfied with their connection. Some participants highlighted the high-cost relative to the poor service received:

“They were charging me quite a substantial amount of money every month for a service which was incredibly poor, and … as I was on a copper line I couldn’t even get rid of the landline”. (Group 3 participant, Aberdeenshire)

8.3.12 Some respondents had resorted to Starlink. However, while this provided a reliable connection, the high cost was a barrier:

“I’ve given up and bought Starlink… which I’ve got to say is very, very good, but it’s very expensive” (Group 3 participant, Aberdeenshire)

8.4 Benefits and Disbenefits

8.4.1 This section discusses the benefits of gaining access to R100 noted by Group 1 respondents along with some of the disbenefits of not having a reliable connection raised by those in Group 2 and Group 3. The discussion covers the following topic areas:

• Employment
• Education and training
• Wellbeing
• Safety and resilience
• Life choices
• Benefits and disbenefits for businesses
• Employment

8.4.2 Most participants from Group 1 who were satisfied with their connection described positive benefits in terms of employment. Two participants noted the importance of now being able to access superfast broadband to complete work activities:

“I was running a mail online delivery service…. I actually had to do dial up every time I wanted to check orders … Wi-Fi then moved on to the 4G system … and since [then] we’ve moved to fibre. I wouldn’t say it’s completely been trouble free, but it is 99% of the time. You can do what you want to do, so it’s been transformational” (Group 1 main contracts recipient, Argyll and Bute)

“I’m able to actually host websites here which is very useful… particularly when it’s so much easier to actually create these things with AI… so having enough bandwidth… has been a big change, big improvement.” (Group 1 main contracts recipient, Aberdeenshire)

8.4.3 While the majority in Group 1 highlighted the benefits for their employment, as highlighted above, the Group 1 voucher recipient who is unsatisfied with their connection and relies instead on 4G connectivity described difficulties with respect to working from home:

“Both my wife and I are both healthcare workers. I do need to look at important things like x-rays, which are quite large and …CT scans, MRI scans, these things are huge and It’s very difficult when they take a long time to download, particularly if someone is on the end of the phone asking for an opinion…My wife could work from home, but she can't because of the broadband… we've already touched on the travel implications and the effects of travel on the environment. … So, she goes into work every day when she could work from home two or three days a week.” (Group 1 voucher recipient, Fife)

8.4.4 Amongst those in Group 2 and 3 a higher proportion highlighted the negative impact of this on their work. For example, one participant highlighted the impact in terms of efficiency:

“There’s times where there’s a delay and it’s really frustrating to get a conversation, so that all has like efficiency issues” (Group 3 participant, Isle of Lewis)

8.4.5 One participant highlighted that being unable to work from home due to the poor connection means that they have to travel more which has a consequent impact on the environment:

8.4.6 Another participant noted that they often had to work later due to the poor connectivity, and this had an impact on other aspects of their life, including reduced personal time with resultant impacts for them on their physical wellbeing:

“I think these slow speeds have an impact on family life, on personal time, on time to go to the gym. I mean, I'm in a gym that closes at 9:30[pm], so if I don't get out the house by 8:00 at night, you know, there's no point in going, really. And sometimes I'm kept late working.” (Group 2 participant - access available via voucher scheme but cost higher than covered via the voucher, East Lothian)

Education and training

8.4.7 The benefits in terms of education and training were also highlighted. One Group 1 participant noted that he had been able expand his interests and personal knowledge through online learning:

“I started trying to do online courses or tutorials or webinars, which was extremely difficult, since we had the [new] connection… I can now do all those things quite comfortably” (Group 1 voucher recipient, Aberdeenshire)

8.4.8 Conversely, those in Group 2 and 3 noted the problems in terms of accessing education and training, including for school children, with one participant sharing an experience of hosting a family in their property and noting the challenges the school child faced as a result of poor connectivity:

“We had a Ukrainian family living with us for a while and the lad was at school and any schoolwork that he would have, simply it was impossible for him to [do]” (Group 3 participant, Perth and Kinross).

Wellbeing

8.4.9 There was general agreement amongst the Group 1 participants who were satisfied with their connection that the positive impacts on wellbeing outweighed any negative impacts:

“I think there's far more upsides, personally” (Group 1 voucher recipient, Moray)

8.4.10 A number of respondents highlighted that the connection had allowed them to keep in contact with friends and family from across Scotland and further afield. One respondent noted that as a result of the R100 programme “[they] can do FaceTime calls with family members who are in in Edinburgh” (Voucher recipient, Highland).

8.4.11 Participants also noted that it had made them feel more connected to the outside world, with positive benefits in terms of mental health:

“Reconnecting with folks from all over the world… that has been a great help to my mental well-being, [it] means I'm not just kind of like in my local area. I'm nice and global in a social kind of way” ( Group 1 main contracts recipient, Aberdeenshire)

8.4.12 Another highlighted that they previously felt like they were missing out in comparison to other areas and now feel less frustrated as a result:

“I think frustration is gone because it was quite frustrating not having access and everybody else had and you could hear it. You know, you feel like you're missing out almost type of things. So, I think that helps.” (Group 1 voucher recipient, Moray)

8.4.13 Amongst Group 2 and Group 3 respondents, the reverse was the case with attendees noting that they felt left behind compared to more urban areas:

“… I would say [I am] feeling like a second-class citizen in Scotland, so you know, I feel that the urban people, you know, are more like first class citizens. And I feel like a second-class citizen who's probably 5 to 10 years behind.” (Group 2 participant - access available via voucher scheme but cost greater than that covered by the voucher, East Lothian)

8.4.14 One Group 3 participant noted that they live “quite an isolated lifestyle” and noted their concern at this because “it is important to remain connected for well-being” (Group 3 participant, Isle of Lewis).

8.4.15 Participants in Group 2 and 3 also highlighted the difficulties associated with independent living for older people / relatives due to alarm systems not working. For example:

“There's a large elderly population and in the villages, many of whom will be relying on home alarm systems as well” (Group 3 participant, Isle of Lewis).

8.4.16 This was discussed further by another attendee who noted that they use a doorbell video system to monitor an elderly parent’s movements, and this is sometimes unavailable if there are connection problems.

8.4.17 One disabled participant highlighted the adverse impact of poor connectivity on his ability to socialise and therefore his mental health:

“I've got long COVID, and my energy levels are very low and just having to go and manually reset the router like four or five times a day to get it to work really cuts into my energy for doing just other things. Having to like, wait 10 minutes for it to turn back on means that when I'm online with friends for only a few hours, if it happens even once, it can cut massively into my ability to socialise with people” (Group 2 participant - access available via voucher scheme but cost higher than what is covered by the voucher, Renfrewshire)

Safety and Resilience

8.4.18 Several participants noted benefits with respect to safety and resilience. One Group 1 respondent noted that a key benefit was being able to make calls via the Wi-Fi connection:

“This this sounds sort of trivial, but actually it's been a major, major change. I've got this three-foot-thick stone wall which meant mobile coverage in the house was minimal, so actually having good broadband which allows you then to do Wi-Fi calling … my mobile is my main way of interacting with people" (Group 1 main contracts recipient, East Lothian)

8.4.19 In contrast, one Group 2 participant highlighted the lack of resilience as a key issue:

“In an emergency situation… because we have no reliable mobile signal, plus the really, really poor Internet, the second you have something like the storms, you know, adverse weather, events flooding, all of that kind of thing, it becomes very, very difficult to contact people and to find out what's going on” (Group 2 participant - access available via voucher scheme but cost higher than what is covered by the voucher, Angus)

Life Choices

8.4.20 Several respondents commented on the impact of poor connectivity on their decision to remain in the area and the impact on house prices / rental incomes.

8.4.21 One Group 3 respondent noted that due to the issues with his connection and the difficulties working from home, he had in the past considered moving house:

“I’ve had to use cafes and actually leave the house. I talked about moving… I don’t want to move. I like where I live, but my work depends on broadband. … It’s important to me that I get the job done in a timely fashion and done correctly and … I’ve certainly found myself in situations being unable to [and]… having to go in search of broadband elsewhere” (Group 3 participant, North Ayrshire).

8.4.22 A number of respondents highlighted how homes without a connection were seen as less desirable and this was reflected in house prices and rental incomes:

“Without high-speed broadband, it does actually impact things like house prices and the ability to sell your home. We definitely see that in our area because it's something that people ask if someone's moving and selling - are you one of the houses which has the high-speed broadband or are you not?” (Group 2 participant, Angus)

“I sometimes have let out my spare room in the past and I let it out to students, and they always want somewhere where they've got high speed broadband Internet. So, it affects the rental market.” (Group 1 participant, Edinburgh)

Benefits and Disbenefits for Businesses

8.4.23 As noted above, five businesses took part in this aspect of the research, all of which were in Group 3 and did not currently have a superfast broadband connection. A range of issues resulting from this lack of connectivity were highlighted.

8.4.24 Several businesses noted that the inability to undertake remote checks had a negative impact on productivity. Both of the hydroelectric businesses noted that due to connectivity issues staff had to go out on site to complete in-person checks of their hydroelectric system rather than check the system remotely with resultant impacts for staff time and travel costs.

8.4.25 The inability to undertake remote checks was also highlighted as an issue by one Airbnb property owner whose property is reliant on an oil tank for heating and who is currently unable to monitor this due to the poor connection:

“Most people obviously live on site, so they can see it day in, day out, they can go and measure it. We don’t, we live 500 miles away from it. So, we rely on… a device that sits in the oil tank and… every week it sends us a message to say how much is left”.

8.4.26 The owner advised that sometimes when the broadband is down this app doesn’t work, and they can be without enough oil due to not ordering it in time.

8.4.27 The farmer noted that he was unable to undertake many business activities, including sales and as such these are delivered by his son who does not live at the farm. He noted:

“Obviously [I] would like to run it from this house… [but] that’s just not possible”

8.4.28 The accommodation providers noted that they had lost customers due to not having access to superfast broadband after customers queried the possibility of being able to complete working holidays (“Digital Nomads” as one owner put it).

8.4.29 The Airbnb owner noted that customers sometimes have difficulty getting into their property and try to call via a mobile connection, but this is unreliable, with resultant implications in terms of safety:

“I’ve had calls from guests where [the connection] keeps breaking in and out …. They have struggled to get in the property, [so] they haven’t connected to the Wi-Fi, so they can’t make a call.”