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Resources & references

Official and primary links we rely on when summarising policy. Start here before quoting figures in a community briefing, council question, or media enquiry.

Fibre-optic cables in a patch panel.

Scottish Government

  1. Broadband and connectivity policy hub
  2. Reaching 100% (R100) public hub
  3. Digital strategy for Scotland: vision statement
  4. Digital public services delivery plan 2025–2028

Local government

  1. COSLA Digital Office

UK regulators and reserved matters

  1. Ofcom — coverage, quality, and affordability research (search the site for current reports).

Global spotlight primaries

  1. Guifi.net — community network, Catalonia
  2. NYC Mesh — volunteer mesh, New York City
  3. Libraries Without Borders — Ideas Box — offline-first learning spaces
  4. Freifunk — decentralised community wireless, Germany

Community networks in Scotland

Proof that community-owned and community-managed connectivity exists in Scotland right now — not as a future possibility, but as a working reality in some of our most remote areas.

  1. HebNet — community internet for the Small Isles (Canna, Rum, Eigg, Muck) and Knoydart
  2. Highland Community Broadband — community-focused provider in rural Highland areas
  3. Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) — administers Community Broadband Scotland funding; pilots in Applecross, Colonsay, Tomintoul and others
  4. B4RN — Broadband for the Rural North; UK benchmark for community cooperative broadband; Lancashire

Providers taking ethics seriously

Not a recommendation list — but these UK providers hold B Corp certification or have community ownership as a core part of their model, not an afterthought. Worth knowing about when making the argument that the dominant commercial model is a choice, not an inevitability.

  1. IDNet — UK's first B Corp certified telecommunications company
  2. Zen Internet — B Corp certified; consumer and business broadband
  3. Cuckoo — B Corp certified; now part of Octopus Energy Group
  4. Wildanet — first UK AltNet to achieve B Corp; rural gigabit in Cornwall
  5. Connexin — B Corp certified full fibre provider

B Corp status is independently verified but can change — check each provider's current certification on the B Lab directory. Listing here is not an endorsement.

WIRES content may summarise these sources; numbers and eligibility rules can change. Always confirm details on the live pages before relying on them in casework.

Something missing?

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