The vast majority of broadband services in the UK and delivered via copper and fibre lines operated by Openreach. Internet Services Providers like Scotnet use these Openreach lines to connect customers to our network and onwards to the internet.
There are 4 main broadband types available:
ADSL
These are copper only services connecting from the customer to the serving telephone exchange. Speeds range from 1Mb/s to 24Mb/s, depending on your distance from the exchange. ADSL historically was the only option for almost everybody, but upgrades to FTTC over the past 15 years mean that it's only available in the most rural of locations where there is no green fibre cabinet between the user and exchange. This also means that speeds are typically very slow.
VDSL
VDSL, also known as FTTC (fibre to the cabinet) or SOGEA is the most common broadband delivery solution in the UK and essentially shortens the length of copper between the customer and the exchange by connecting to a fibre fed cabinet somewhere along the way. The closer you are to the cabinet, the shorter the copper (which is where the signal loss occurs) and therefore the faster your speed should be. Speeds range from 1Mb/s to 80Mb/s, depending on your line copper line length.
FTTP
Fibre To The Premises broadband is really the gold-standard for residential and SME broadband, and is undoubtedly the future of broadband delivery. A fibre is connected all the way from the premises to the telephone exchange. Fibre doesn't lose signal strength with distance (unlike copper) so the speed you get will be the same if you're 10m or 10km from the serving telephone exchange. It's not available to everybody, but coverage is currently around 50% in Scotland. Speeds available can exceed 1000Mb/s (1Gb/s).
Fibre Ethernet
Often described as 'leased lines', Fibre Ethernet circuits are dedicated fibre connections from the customer's premises to the serving fibre node. These services have a vastly improved service level agreement (SLA), and the speeds are symmetrical - i.e. the same upstream and downstream. The speed of service is guaranteed and can be ordered from 10Mb/s to 10Gb/s. See our Ethernet Page for more details.
Note that services delivered via Openreach cables are now 'data only' and don't require an analogue phone line element. This often means that you can save money by switching and simply cease your analogue phone service.
We offer the following standard business services:
| Technology | Service Name | Speed Range* | Connection cost** | Monthly Rental |
| ADSL | ADSL Business | 1-24Mb/s | £99 | £29.99 |
| VDSL | VDSL Business | 1-80Mb/s | £99 | £34.99 |
| FTTP | Fibre Business | 100Mb/s | £119.99 | £39.99 |
| FTTP | Fibre Business Plus | 500Mb/s | £119.99 | £49.99 |
| FTTP | Fibre Business Ultimate | 900Mb/s | £119.99 | £59.99 |
The contract term for all new connections is 24 months.
All prices exclude VAT
* Speeds available over ADSL/VDSL will depend on the length of copper between you and the serving telephone exchange/cabinet. Please contact us to obtain an estimated speed. All Openreach delivered services are subject to network contention and these speeds are the maximum and are not guaranteed.
** If you are migrating from another provider, the connection charge is Free.