The City of Aberdeen in Scotland has good full fibre broadband and gigabit coverage, although wholesale networks are limited to Openreach and CityFibre so far.
Residents of Aberdeen should have reasonable choice from a range of Openreach and CityFibre retailers then, including BT, Sky, TalkTalk, and Vodafone.
Outside of the city however, the broadband choices are more lacklustre, with few full fibre networks building in rural Aberdeenshire.
Most popular broadband deals in Aberdeen
The majority of homes in Aberdeen will be served by CityFibre's full fibre to the home network, which brings fast speeds up to 1.8Gb per second, as well as some of the UK's cheapest pricing from just £22 per month for superfast speeds.
Openreach is also widely active in the city, with a coverage footprint of 60% in Aberdeen, and 40% across the more rural surrounding areas in Aberdeenshire, so residents will be able to access deals from major retailers including BT, Sky, Plusnet, TalkTalk and Vodafone.
Here are four of the best broadband deals available in Aberdeen:
| Package | Broadband | Monthly price | Upfront price | Contract term | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Rebel 115 | 115Mb average | £35 | Free | 24 months |
 Offer: £60 Amazon Gift Card with code WIFIREBEL + Fixed Price Guarantee + Tri-band Wi-Fi extender £5/mth each | |||||
|
Full Fibre 145 | 145Mb average | £27.99 | Free | 24 months |
| Offer: £50 Reward Card + Save over £12/mth + No setup fee + Exclusive offers and discounts for Plusnet customers (Ends 01/01/2025) | |||||
|
Ultrafast 115 | 115Mb average | £28.99 | Free | 18 months |
| Offer: £40 Gift Card | |||||
|
Full Fibre 80 + Super WiFi | 82Mb average | £29 | Free | 24 months |
| Offer: £2 off for Vodafone pay monthly customers | |||||
While residents in Aberdeen can access broadband speeds up to 1.8Gbps, we've listed the full fibre deals around the 100Mb mark, as according to Ofcom most people who have access to full fibre broadband choose this speed.
It's worth noting, as well as these deals, select properties in Aberdeen may also have availability for smaller providers including Grain, GoFibre, Hyperoptic, and Direct Save Telecom via the OFNL network.
So, what's available can vary depending on your exact address in Aberdeen, as such it's always best to use our free postcode tool to check availability and find the best deals for you.
Cheapest broadband in Aberdeen
We've used the postcode AB10 6HB, or Irvine Place, which is a residential street, close to Aberdeen city centre, to check broadband availability and prices.
Here are four of the cheapest broadband deals available in Aberdeen:
| Package | Broadband | Monthly price | Upfront price | Contract term | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Full Fibre 80 | 82Mb average | £22 | Free | 24 months |
| Offer: £2 off for Vodafone pay monthly customers | |||||
|
Full Fibre 75 | 75Mb average | £22 | Free | 24 months |
| Offer: Free setup | |||||
|
|
Full Fibre 150 | 150Mb average | £23 | Free | 24 months |
| Offer: £2 off for Vodafone pay monthly customers | |||||
|
Full Fibre 75 | 75Mb average | £25 | £5 | 24 months |
| Offer: WiFi Max just £4/mth + (£5 refundable setup fee for new customers if applicable) | |||||
Over 82% of homes in Aberdeen can receive CityFibre's full fibre broadband, which means they'll have availability for the cheapest deals from Vodafone, including their Full Fibre 80 plan for just £22 per month, and the faster Full Fibre 150 plan for £23.
Openreach also has wide availability of 60% of homes in Aberdeen, which offers low cost packages such as NOW Broadband's Full Fibre 75 plan for £22 per month, and Sky's Full Fibre 75 plan for £25 per month.
Across the UK as a whole, the cheapest broadband deals start at £22 per month, so residents of Aberdeen will be able to access the same competitive prices.
Availability at specific addresses could vary, so use our free postcode tool and order by 'Lowest price' to find the cheapest deals for your home in Aberdeen.
How fast is broadband in Aberdeen?
The average download speed in Aberdeen is 138.6Mb, while the average upload speed is 47.7Mb. This is based on speed tests carried out within the City of Aberdeen itself, while surrounding rural areas of Aberdeenshire have slower average speeds.
| Average maximum download speed | Average maximum upload speed | |
|---|---|---|
| Aberdeen North | 135.8Mb | 42.3Mb |
| Aberdeen South | 141.8Mb | 53.7Mb |
| West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine | 67.3Mb | 13.8Mb |
| Gordon and Buchan | 92.1Mb | 18.9Mb |
| Aberdeenshire North and Moray East | 57.3Mb | 12.8Mb |
These speed results are based on crowd sourced data from ThinkBroadband, including from our own free speed test tool.
There is a noticeable difference in average broadband speeds reported across Aberdeenshire, with speeds in the urban city of Aberdeen almost twice as fast as those across the surrounding rural areas.
| Average maximum download speed | Average maximum upload speed | |
|---|---|---|
| Aberdeen City (90%) | 138.6Mb | 47.7Mb |
| Aberdeenshire (42%) | 74.8Mb | 15.8Mb |
When we look at the top 20% of speeds reported the difference grows further, with download speeds increasing in Aberdeen to 170.8Mb, while the fastest speeds across Aberdeenshire, excluding the city, remain at the mean average of 74.6Mb.
Those receiving the slowest speeds in Aberdeen are also more impacted when they live in rural areas, with the slowest 20% in the city receiving speeds of 31.6Mb, compared to a much slower 8.7Mb across the much more rural Aberdeenshire towns and villages.
It's not surprising then when we look at full fibre and gigabit broadband penetration across the same constituencies around Aberdeen, we also find faster connections available in urban areas compared to rural ones.
| Full fibre broadband coverage | Gigabit broadband coverage | |
|---|---|---|
| Aberdeen North | 93% | 93% |
| Aberdeen South | 86% | 86% |
| West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine | 42% | 42% |
| Gordon and Buchan | 46% | 46% |
| Aberdeenshire North and Moray East | 38% | 38% |
Openreach has so far been the main driver of full fibre broadband in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, with CityFibre having also built within the urban boundaries of Aberdeen.
There is a notable absence of any Virgin Media coverage in and around Aberdeen, including from both their existing gigabit-capable cable network, and their newer Nexfibre-built full fibre network. This means, where gigabit broadband is available in Aberdeen, it's provided exclusively by the full fibre rollout.
Aberdeen doesn't have too many other alt-nets, or independent full fibre networks, building in the city, or in the surrounding towns and villages of Aberdeenshire.
There is some very limited coverage from Grain Connect, Hyperoptic, OFNL, and GoFibre in the city and urban outskirts, but the pockets are limited to a few streets or buildings rather than anything substantial.
Fastest broadband deals in Aberdeen
Using the postcode AB10 6HB, or Irvine Place, in Aberdeen, which is a residential street halfway between the Port of Aberdeen and Robert Gordon University, we can find out the fastest broadband available in the area.
The overall fastest broadband deal in AB10 6HB, Aberdeen, is Vodafone's Pro II Full Fibre 1.8 package, initially launched in October 2023, which offers average download speeds of 1.8Gb per second at peak times.
Here are four of the fastest broadband deals available in Aberdeen:
| Package | Broadband | Monthly price | Upfront price | Contract term | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Pro II Full Fibre 1.8 | 1.8Gb average | £70 | Free | 24 months |
| Offer: £4 off for Vodafone pay monthly customers | |||||
|
Lit 1000 | 1Gb average | £19.99 for 3 mths, then £39.99 |
Free | 24 months |
| Offer: Half price for 3 months | |||||
|
|
Rebel 1000 | 1Gb average | £55 | Free | 24 months |
| Offer: £100 Amazon Gift Card with code WIFIREBEL + Fixed Price Guarantee + Tri-band Wi-Fi extender £5/mth each | |||||
|
|
Full Fibre Gigafast | 900Mb average | £41 | £5 | 24 months |
| Offer: WiFi Max just £4/mth + (£5 refundable setup fee for new customers if applicable) | |||||
Vodafone's 1.8Gb plan is offered on the CityFibre full fibre to the home network, where some homes will actually receive a faster 2.2Gb speed instead, but all will benefit from symmetrical upload speeds.
Lit Fibre, who also retail for CityFibre, offer a symmetrical gigabit plan with average download and upload speeds of 1Gb. Other fast broadband plans will then be provided by Openreach resellers, including Sky, BT, and Plusnet, for example, who all offer a gigabit plan.
Availability at specific addresses could vary, so use our free postcode tool and order by 'Broadband speed' to find the fastest deals for your home in Aberdeen.
Summary: Who is the best broadband provider in Aberdeen
Aberdeen in Scotland is an urban location with a high penetration of full fibre broadband from both Openreach FTTP and CityFibre wholesale networks.
This brings wide choice to residents including from retailers like Vodafone, TalkTalk, Sky, BT, Plusnet, and NOW Broadband, among other lesser known resellers, such as Rebel, Earth, and Your Co-op.
There is a noticeable difference between broadband availability in Aberdeen compared to the much more rural surrounding areas, where full fibre is solely being rolled out by Openreach. Those yet to be passed by full fibre could consider reading our rural broadband guide for more help.
When we looked at a residential location in Aberdeen, we found the following:
- The cheapest broadband in Aberdeen is with: Vodafone and NOW Broadband for £22 per month
- The fastest broadband in Aberdeen is with: Vodafone's 1.8Gb plan
- The best broadband with TV in Aberdeen is with: Sky
Due to a lack of any Virgin Media coverage in Aberdeen at all, those who want a TV and broadband bundle will need to look at Sky, or perhaps BT.
For households who need to keep hold of a landline phone line, Sky, Vodafone, and NOW Broadband are all good options that include line rental at no extra cost.
Ultimately, residents should use our free postcode tool to see exactly what's available to them, and then order deals by price, special offer, broadband speed, or contract length, to find the deal that's right for them.
