Imagine sending a letter to your neighbour across the street, only for it to be routed through London or even Amsterdam before landing in their letterbox. This is effectively what happens to much of Scotland’s internet traffic.
Despite physical proximity between users, businesses and services, digital data is frequently sent on needlessly long journeys, often leaving the country before reaching its destination. This approach is inefficient, costly and poses questions about privacy, resilience and digital sovereignty.
As of July 2025, more than 1.9m Scottish homes have access to full-fibre broadband, a nine per cent increase compared to July 2024. While Scotland sharpens its focus on digital connectivity, privacy and economic inclusion, hosting data locally in Scotland supports optimal speeds and reliability, complementing wider UK connectivity for consistent national performance.
Why Local Routing Matters
Historically, most of Scotland’s internet traffic is routed through major exchange points located in London, Manchester or continental Europe, rather than locally.
For users in Scotland, this routing inefficiency translates into slower internet performance, higher latency and increased costs.
For businesses, particularly those operating in remote rural areas, this can mean reduced competitiveness and customer satisfaction. While for consumers, it can increase the chance of latency delays for premium content such as streaming and gaming.
The issue is compounded in rural areas, with only 43 per cent of rural residences having access to gigabit-capable broadband in 2024. In areas where broadband connectivity is already lacking, local routing becomes even more important.
But the impact extends beyond individual user experience. When data travels longer distances, energy use increases, carbon footprints expand and resilience to disruption, from technical failures to cyberattacks, is compromised.
In reality, Scotland has the infrastructure through data centres such as Pulsant, the first site where LINX operated in the country. But the next step is for collaboration between industry and government to switch to policies that promote regional peering and therefore keep traffic local.
This becomes even more important as AI continues to evolve, creating the demand for more data centres to be built, more content produced and streamed, and more hosting, creating a greater need for traffic to be routed locally.
Privacy and Security Implications
Many organisations operating in Scotland, from public services to private enterprises, assume that using a local data centre guarantees data sovereignty. But in practice, even data stored in Scottish facilities may travel across borders during routine operations such as back-ups, updates or when using cloud-based tools managed by hyperscale providers.
This lack of clarity is particularly concerning for highly regulated industries like finance and healthcare. In these sectors, data protection isn’t just a matter of policy, it’s a legal and ethical obligation. Compliance with regulations including UK GDPR, financial conduct rules and health data laws often requires assurances not only about where data is stored, but where it travels.
Beyond regulation, other industries also have strong incentives to keep data close to home. E-commerce platforms want fast, responsive websites for customers. In contrast, financial services may prioritise infrastructure reliability and cost. This is particularly important with downtime becoming more of a threat, with broadband outages spiking 73 per cent in 2024, compared to 2023. But in all cases, a clearer picture of where data moves, and the ability to control that movement, is becoming increasingly important.
In the current climate, businesses and public bodies alike need more than just compliance. They need confidence. By improving local routing infrastructure and offering clearer guarantees about data flows, Scotland can help provide that confidence and foster a more secure, resilient digital economy.
Routing for Scotland
Scotland should prioritise collaboration between local authorities, internet service providers and data centres to influence policies that prioritise keeping traffic local.
Delivering this vision is easier with public-private collaboration between Government, telecom providers, cloud platforms, universities and civic organisations all of which have a stake in the benefits of local routing.
Part of the puzzle is knowing where internet traffic currently goes and analysing if it can be routed more efficiently. This knowledge is an important factor in designing networks, considering where traffic needs to go and how it reaches those destinations.
By working together, these groups can gain a better understanding of routing efficiency, taking advantage of the existing infrastructure that Scotland has already invested in, and aligning around common goals such as cybersecurity, economic inclusion and sustainability. Industry leadership is vital in setting best practices, while policymakers must ensure the right regulatory and funding frameworks are in place.
Finally, it’s crucial to give highly regulated sectors like finance, healthcare and public services, greater transparency and control over how their data is routed. These organisations need more than just storage assurances; they need to know where their data travels and have the tools to influence those pathways.
The Bigger Picture
Scotland has made impressive strides in expanding broadband access, fostering digital skills and investing in tech-led innovation. But in an era where data is power, sovereignty is not just about where information is sorted, it’s about how it flows.
Especially as AI adoption and usage continues to skyrocket, it’s important that Scotland has a proactive, future-looking approach to data sovereignty and local routing to be best prepared for the increase in network traffic and demand.
By keeping more data in Scotland, we don’t just improve internet performance. We protect sensitive information, reduce energy use, strengthen local economies and pave the way for a more secure and inclusive digital future.
Scotland has the talent, the tech sector, the infrastructure investment and the public ambition. Now it’s time to connect the dots and build an internet that truly serves Scotland first.
A version of this article was published in the Winter 2025 edition of Data Centre & Network News
