Less than half of Scotland can get a proper 5G signal

Just 48% of Scotland’s landmass has high-confidence 5G coverage from at least one network, according to a new Consumer Scotland report.

The UK-wide figure stands at 73%, with Northern Ireland on 93%, England on 88% and Wales on 62%.

Ofcom grades 5G coverage by signal strength, with high confidence meaning an 80% chance of a signal and very high confidence meaning 95%.

At the very high confidence level, Scotland’s coverage drops to 34% of its landmass.

Northern Ireland reaches 84% at that level, while England sits at 74% and Wales at 50%.

Scotland also has the lowest 4G coverage in the UK, with only 71% of its landmass covered by all four networks.

Around 9% of Scotland’s landmass gets no 4G signal from any operator, against a UK average of 4%.

The figure rises to 9.4% in rural Scotland, compared with 3.1% in rural Wales and 1.2% in rural England.

The UK Government’s Shared Rural Network activated 140 publicly funded masts, 50 of them in Scotland.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology cut the number of planned masts for total not-spots from more than 300 to 44 in June 2025, following spending concerns from the National Audit Office.

The Scottish Government spent £28.75 million on its Scottish 4G Infill Programme, which it has now completed.

The UK Government wants standalone 5G in all populated areas by 2030, and industry estimates the cost of that rollout at up to £34 billion.

Ofcom found mobile performance peaked at 83% in large cities and fell to 71% in rural areas.

Consumer Scotland called on Ofcom to set nation-level mobile performance benchmarks alongside its proposed 90% UK benchmark.

It also wants the UK and Scottish Governments to agree priority areas for further investment from networks and the public purse.

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