Why Does The UK Still Lag Behind On Business Broadband?

The UK still lags behind the rest of Europe in terms of business broadband usage. The percentage of UK companies with business telephone systems, but lacking fixed line broadband, is below that of countries like Austria, Finland and Slovakia.

However, are these figures – released by the statistical office of the European Union in January 2010 – strictly accurate? Overall, it seems British businesses are doing pretty well on connectivity, with 91% of them now connected to broadband internet via fixed landline connection business phone systems. While the EU claims figures of 98 – 100% for Slovenia and Finland, it must be remembered that many areas are still dependent on dial-up. The EUs figures state 93% of businesses are connected to the internet in some form. When you add broadband to the equation, these figures drop to 82% – well below the UK figure. The EU stats also do not mention broadband speeds, which is a crucial factor when you are running a business online.

Remember, also, the level of commerce here. Just because an EU business is connected to the internet, it does not mean it has a company website or even an email address. UK businesses embrace internet connectivity wholeheartedly, often using the very latest state-of-the-art software, technology and business systems. Nonetheless, almost 1 in 10 UK companies still do not have business broadband or, indeed, online connections of any kind. This is not the way to do commerce, at least not in the 21st century.

We at 5G Telecommunications offer a wide range of fast business broadband connectivity to suit all budgets. If you are one of the 1 in 10 companies still to get connected,  it is time to do so, now. We have On Call Engineers available to help and can also offer essential telecoms advice.