According to a recent study, as many as 45,000 UK firms are still using dial-up Internet connections.
That’s shocking, but the truth is the majority of firms with broadband access are still lagging behind competitors in better connected places.
Broadband speeds and coverage across our country are woefully inadequate. It’s about time the government saw sense and started taking notice of the importance of the “need for speed” for all businesses, especially smaller firms.
The Federation of Small Businesses survey showed businesses with access to broadband often experience speeds below 2Mb per second. That’s below the national average for residential connections and frankly hopeless in a world where sending large files via email is seen as normal.
With real-time communication over services such as Skype gaining in popularity in the business world, it’s hard to disagree with the FSB’s proposals that government must give higher priority to business.
Reliability of connection and guarantees on minimum speeds should be as crucial to the country’s infrastructure as roads, railways and airports. Yet there is little concrete indication that businesses are in the minds of officials making the decisions about the future of UK Internet connectivity.
At Texane, the manufacturing business I own and run in Market Harborough, Leicestershire, our recently updated broadband connection can cope with large data transfer and uploads to cloud systems efficiently, securely and reliably.
This has made a drastic difference to the operation of the business. We have improved our resiliency, and we can work faster, smarter and harder to benefit our customers.
The stark difference between the speeds we enjoy and less fortunate businesses has emphasised for me the struggle that many small firms are facing every day, with frequent downtime and interruptions disrupting work flow and delaying deliveries.
If the UK is to remain competitive and not get left behind, our small firms must have access to first class infrastructure. That is why I will be supporting the FSB and anyone else lobbying the Government to take action before it is too late. Image source
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