More UK businesses jump on broadband super highway

With speed of response being a critical business success factor, UK companies are increasingly opting for faster broadband, according to research.

The number of organisations with a minimum 10Mb/sec downstream connection shot up from 18 per cent to 25 per cent between October last year and May this year. And, more than one in 10 (13 per cent) of businesses already boast 50Mb/sec or higher.

“Over 800,000 workplaces will be in the market for more bandwidth,” said Tim Johnson, senior analyst at Point-Topic, which published the research.

“In addition to this 45 per cent of UK premises expect to want more speed within the next two to three years.”

Unsurprisingly, it’s the bigger businesses that are demanding fatter pipes, with almost two-thirds (61 per cent) of medium and larger companies feeling the need for more speed, compared with just 39 per cent for smaller players.

“Remote access, remote helpdesks, video conferencing and VoIP are all becoming more embedded in day to day organisational use. These applications are the primary drivers for the increasing speeds organisations require now and in the future,” added Johnson.

As things stand today, 8Mb/sec is commonplace downstream-wise for companies, with a third of businesses in the UK opting for this speed. Those with a bigger appetite for speed are not in short supply, with 12 per cent opting for 10Mb/sec, five per cent on 50Mb/sec, six per cent on 100Mb/sec and two per cent reporting speeds of more than 100Mb/sec.

Some businesses, however, remain in the slow lane, with 21 per cent of businesses reporting 2Mb/sec or less.

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