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Business Broadband – A BCC Survey

Contents

i Foreword
ii Executive summary
1.0 Introduction 4
1.1. What is broadband? 4
1.2. Background 4
1.3. Methodology 5
1.4. Profile of respondents 6
1.4.1. Size 6
1.4.2. Activity 6
2.0 Part I – Use of Technology 6
2.1. Connectivity Technologies 6
2.1.1. Internet and email 6
2.1.2. Networks 7
2.1.3. Other technologies 9
2.2. E-commerce 9
2.3. Mobile Working 10
3.0 Part II – Business Broadband 11
3.1. Broadband uptake 11
3.2. Satisfaction with broadband 12
3.3. Business perceptions of broadband benefits 12
3.4. Importance of broadband in choice of business location 13
3.5. Pressure from customers and suppliers 13
3.6. Barriers to broadband uptake 14
3.7. Barriers to satellite broadband uptake 15
3.8. Channels for broadband promotion 15

ii Foreword

Oracle
The increasing availability of fast connections into the Internet (broadband) at
cost-effective prices makes it possible for individuals and businesses to experience the global information network without the delays and frustrations sometimes associated with dial-up connections. This allows businesses of every size to access new information services and effectively transform the way they operate. Oracle is fully committed to helping smaller organizations reap these “virtual” rewards, and we are working in partnership with BCC to realise this vision.

It’s important to note that although this survey clearly shows growth in the uptake of broadband by smaller organisations across the UK, there are barriers yet to be overcome. We hope that this survey becomes an essential tool for suppliers of information services to address the real needs of customers and potential customers, as well as an outline and illustration of the benefits gained by these early adopters.

Ian Smith, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Oracle Corporation UK, Ireland & South Africa

Cisco
Cisco Systems is delighted to support this latest body of research by the BCC. As broadband penetration continues its steady growth, it is increasingly opening up a wealth of new and exciting possibilities for businesses.

While high-speed connectivity for e-mail and Internet access can deliver the first and most immediate advantages, the richer content of higher bandwidth applications and services, and a variety of solutions to help drive operational efficiencies represent the next logical step in business evolution.

There are benefits for all in deploying broadband solutions especially in the area of business productivity, and particularly when linked to process change. With the corporate sector already deploying such technologies, the next generation of organisations represented by the BCC is well placed to take advantage of these intrinsically scalable and highly flexible measures which are now firmly within their reach.

Duncan Mitchell
VP and Managing Director
Cisco Systems Ltd

ii Executive Summary
This survey is a state of the nation look into the penetration and impact of broadband on British business. It explores business use of the technologies enabled by broadband and the value companies perceive broadband has to offer their business. In addition, the survey also identifies barriers preventing businesses from benefiting from broadband connections.

Broadband use has risen dramatically in the past year, more than doubling from 19% to 39% of total respondents since last year’s BCC survey of ICT use. Dial-up connections, used by 35.7% of all respondents, are still a popular means of accessing the Internet, but future market growth for broadband technologies looks promising.

One third of non-users plan to acquire a broadband connection as soon as it is available, while one in six firms plan to acquire broadband within a year. Almost half of all businesses surveyed (users and non-users) believe broadband access to be significant in choosing a business location. Another factor encouraging broadband adoption (and frustrating firms that cannot gain access) is pressure from customers and suppliers to use broadband-enabled applications. 61% of all firms think they will be pressured to acquire a fast Internet connection such as broadband in the next five years. Nearly half of all firms (47.7%) think suppliers will exert such pressure.

Existing broadband users rate their broadband experience highly. More than four out of five broadband users are satisfied with their connection’s consistency of speed, one-time installation cost, quality of service, and ease of installation. Users are least impressed with their choice of suppliers.

More than half of all broadband and non-broadband users agree that broadband is critical for their business to succeed. Firms see improved communication (chosen by 61% of firms) as the greatest benefit a broadband connection offers to their business. Improved productivity and reduced costs are also seen to be important benefits. The survey also demonstrates that speed – rather than rich content – is seen as a core benefit of a broadband connection. Two-thirds of open comment responses cite speed as a benefit whilst less than two per cent mention rich content such as video conferencing and Internet telephony.

For firms that currently do not have a broadband connection, the greatest barrier to uptake is lack of availability. Rural availability is a problem for 30% of non-users, while urban/industrial availability is a problem for 16% of non-users. One quarter of non-users say they have not upgraded to broadband because they are satisfied with their current connection. Expense is not as big a barrier as it has been in the past. Only 18% of non-users list this as a reason for not connecting to broadband, down from 39% in BCC’s 2002 ICT survey. However, expense proves to be a more significant barrier for uptake of satellite broadband. Of the 20% of non-users who have investigated obtaining a satellite connection, 60% say cost is a barrier.

Telecoms providers and websites are the most important sources of information on business broadband for businesses of all sizes. Small firms tend to rely more on advice from trusted friends and colleagues than do large firms.

In contrast to other recent surveys, but in line with last year’s BCC survey results, responses to this survey suggest that use of the Internet (99%) and external email (98%) is now nearly universal among companies of all sizes. Six out of seven respondents (86%) now have a company website. Internal email is used by three-quarters of businesses.

Local area networks (LANs) are the most widespread networking technologies among businesses. Other technologies such as wireless LANs, wireless area networks (WANs), intranets, extranets, electronic data interchange (EDI) and Internet Protocol (IP) telephony, currently have lower usage rates, and are far more likely to be used by large firms than small ones. However, uptake of these technologies has the potential to grow rapidly, especially among small and medium sized firms, as many of these firms say they plan to use them in the future.

Most businesses in the survey conduct the majority of their business functions with the help of computers. They are most likely to use computers for account management and record retrieval. A much higher share of large companies than smaller companies use internal computer systems across the entire range of functions. However, the size differential is generally less pronounced when it comes to using the Internet in business functions. The smallest firms actually use the Internet more than large firms for training, purchasing and procurement.

Almost four thousand businesses responded to our business broadband questionnaire. The composition of the sample that responded mirrors the cross-section of the members of Chambers of Commerce in terms of size. Nearly three-quarters of respondents were in the services sector, and a fifth were manufacturers.

1.0 Introduction

1.1. What is broadband?
Broadband refers to a range of technologies that enable always-on, high-speed access to the Internet and other electronic services. But despite the large number of industry, government and policy groups devoted to broadband in the UK, there is no commonly agreed definition. For the purposes of this survey, we have chosen to adopt Oftel’s definition of “higher bandwidth, always-on services offering data rates of 128 kilobits per second (kbps) and above.”

1.2. Background
Broadband has the power to transform business, not just through faster downloads of emails and attachments, but also by enabling companies to be more productive and competitive by using e-enabled applications. A broadband connection opens up a wide range of opportunities for businesses, including enabling them to link directly to their customers and suppliers, to access key accounts from multiple locations, and to communicate effectively from a distance via video conferencing. A broadband connection can also help businesses control costs by outsourcing key business functions such as payroll, accounting and training.

Despite this great promise, Oftel estimate that only 16% of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have taken up broadband connections. As of May 2003 there were 2 million (home and business) broadband subscribers in the UK, with the number of new subscribers increasing at close to 30,000 each week. Of the 5,595 ADSL exchanges, “BT has enabled 1,100 of them, covering 71 percent of all homes: by the end of 2003 the company expects that figure to have risen to more than 80 percent.”

The government has set itself a target for the UK to have the most “extensive and competitive broadband market in the G7 by 2005.” The most recent assessments in May 2003 show that the UK has moved from 4th to 3rd for competitiveness, overtaking the US. The UK lags behind on the extensiveness target, ranking 5th in the G7.

To help stimulate broadband uptake in the UK, a number of government-led initiatives have been launched. These include:
§ Provision of a £30 million UK Broadband Fund to enable Regional Development Agencies and devolved administrations to develop broadband networks and run pilot projects;
§ Launch of the UK Broadband Task Force in November 2002 with the aim of providing key advice to public sector bodies to increase the take-up and availability of broadband;
§ Allocation of £1 billion between 2003-2006 for public service connectivity; and
§ Introduction of a new Rural Broadband Team created within DTI to help move the Agenda forward through joint working with Defra and RDAs.

In addition, government and industry have been working together through the Broadband Stakeholders Group (BSG) to meet the 2005 extensiveness and competitiveness target. Two key priorities have emerged:
(1) Continuing “to accelerate the adoption of broadband services where they are available making them a “must have;” and
(2) Ensuring “widespread coverage at affordable prices.”

The British Chambers of Commerce has set out to help encourage these priorities by providing new insight into the current status of the market for business broadband in the UK. This survey aims to identify the benefits that businesses perceive they derive from the technology as well as barriers preventing firms from benefiting from a high-speed connection. In addition, building on last year’s BCC survey of information and communications technology (ICT) use, this year’s survey examines business use of technologies and applications that add real value to a broadband connection. It is hoped that this study of Chamber members’ perception and behaviour will provide increased understanding of the business broadband market as government and industry strive to make Broadband Britain a reality.

1.3. Methodology
Business Broadband: A BCC Survey was devised in consultation with Matters of Fact, an independent research company, and carried out in June and July 2003. The BCC e-Business Group, comprised primarily of more than a dozen Chamber member businesses, contributed significantly to the design of the questionnaire itself. Local Chambers of Commerce in eleven Regions across the UK (not including London) distributed the survey to their members via a printed questionnaire. A link to an online version of the questionnaire was printed at the top of each copy to allow respondents to send their responses electronically if preferred. A total of 3,973 responses, including 197 online responses, were received from businesses of all sizes and sectors, representing a response rate of seven per cent. The results are not weighted by firm size.

1.4. Profile of respondents
1.4.1. Size
The majority of respondents (56.4%) were small firms who employed between one and 19 employees – often called “micro” firms. 8.6% of businesses were sole traders, and 18.2% of businesses employed between 20 and 49 people. In all, the vast majority (83.2%) of respondents belong to the “small firms” sector, officially those who employ fewer than 50 people. 13.3% of businesses were “medium sized”, employing between 50 and 249 people, while only 3.5% of respondents were “large firms”, defined as those employing more than 250 people.

The composition of the sample that responded to the survey mirrors the cross-section of the members of Chambers of Commerce. Among the full members of Accredited Chambers in the UK, 83.8% employ fewer than 50 people (53.8% employ less than 10 people, and 30.0% employ between 10 and 50), 12.5% are medium sized firms and 3.7% are large firms. When the number of employees at other sites in the UK is accounted for, an additional 59 respondents were large firms (employing more than 250 staff).
1.4.2. Activity
Nearly three-quarters of the businesses (73.7%) who responded to our survey were in the services sector. Almost a fifth of respondents (18.7%) were manufacturers. The remainder was comprised of firms in the construction sector (6.2%) or primary production (1.4%).

Professional services was the most common category of business activity, with almost one third (27.0%) falling into this category. 11.3% of businesses responding to the survey were manufacturers of investment goods (i.e. goods used to make other goods; this includes most products in the metals, chemicals, plastics and printing industries). 7.4% were manufacturers of consumer goods (for example, food, clothing, footwear, textiles). Other relatively common sectors were “other services” (20.1%), retail/wholesale (8.1%) and construction (6.2%).

[Tables 1.1-1.3]

Table 1.1: Number of employees

2.0 Part I – Use of Technology

2.1. Connectivity Technologies

2.1.1. Internet and email

In contrast to other recent surveys, responses to this survey suggest that use of the Internet and external email are now nearly universal among companies of all sizes. 97.8% use the Internet and 97.6% use external email). Many of the small number who currently do not have external email or Internet plan to get them. There is very little variation between different sizes of firm. Internet use has become virtually ubiquitous among firms of all sizes and sectors. Over 96.0% of firms in every size category say they use external email, while over 95.0% of firms of all sizes use the Internet.

The vast majority of businesses use company websites (85.6%). Only one in seven respondents (14.4%) do not have a website, and most of these (11.1%) planned to get one in the future. The self-employed are the least likely to have company websites, and the share steadily rises with size of firm, so that virtually all large firms (96.2%) had a website.

Most businesses using external email also use internal email. However, just over three-quarters (75.8%) of firms in the survey use internal email, compared to the 97.6% who have external email. Part of this lower average can be explained by the low share of the self-employed (36.8%) on internal email systems, reflecting that they have no employees to email. However, the share of other businesses using internal email is also smaller than those using external email: 71.6% of micro firms, 85.2% of small firms and 93.3% of medium firms, compared with over 96% of firms of all sizes who use external email.

When the respondents are grouped by industrial sector, the two sectors with the most widespread use of internal email are manufacturers of investment goods, and companies in the public and voluntary sector. The sectors least likely to use internal email are hotels and restaurants and consumer services. Almost all companies in every sector use external email and the Internet; the only sectors where usage rates fall below 95% are consumer services, construction and retailing/wholesaling. Meanwhile, use of web sites was high in every sector, but highest among hotels/restaurants and manufacturing firms (including both consumer and investment goods) and lowest among construction firms and retailing/wholesaling.

2.1.2. Networks

Local area network
The most prevalent networking technology is the local area (LAN) connection. Local area networks are a way of linking computers in a building so that they can share files, software, peripheral hardware and storage. Understandably LANs, like internal email, are not much used by the self-employed, perhaps because their offices contain a single workstation. However, 66.0% of micro sized firms in the survey use LANs, and the share rises by about ten percentage points with each size category, peaking with a penetration rate of 95.9% for large firms. The survey results suggest that this technology has reached saturation point and that the growth potential for LANs is relatively low: less than five per cent of firms in any size category except self-employed say they plan to create a LAN in the future. On a sectoral basis, use of LANs is highest among manufacturers of investment goods and lowest among hotels/restaurants.

Wide area network
Wide area networks (WANs) allow the same sharing of files and other resources as LANs, but they link computers at different sites. Wide area networks are used by 26.2% of respondents, while another 10.3% plan to use them in the future. Among all the connectivity technologies that firms were questioned on, WANs display the most striking disparity of uptake between different sizes of firm. Among micro firms, only 16.9% of respondents currently use a WAN. At the other extreme, the vast majority of large firms (84.7%) use a WAN, while in the middle groups, just over half of medium sized firms (53.0%) and just under a third of small firms (29.2%) use WANs. Part of this disparity between firm sizes is to be expected, as larger firms are more likely to have multiple sites, and therefore more reason to use a WAN. However, the potential for growth is highest among micro sized and small firms: over 10.0% of respondents in these groups (11.4% and 12.8% respectively) plan to use a WAN in the future, suggesting that not all firm sizes have exploited this technology to its full potential. On a sectoral basis, use of WANs is highest in the public and voluntary sector, and lowest in the hotels/restaurants sector.

Wireless LAN or WiFi
Wireless LAN or wireless fidelity (WiFi) networks are like LANs except the data is transmitted via radio waves instead of electric cable. WiFi has the lowest overall uptake of the technologies listed in this section. Only 13.2% of firms in the survey currently use WiFi. Uptake is relatively low for both micro firms (11.9%) and small firms (10.6%). However, an equal share of firms in each category plan to adopt WiFi technology in the future, suggesting that the technology is still in an early stage of development, and that usage rates could double in the foreseeable future. Use of WiFi is highest among large firms (32.0%); this category also has the highest share of respondents planning to use it in the future (19.0%), suggesting that a majority of large firms will adopt WiFi. On a sectoral basis, use of WiFi is highest among providers of professional services and lowest among those in the agriculture/primary production sector.

Intranet
An intranet combines a LAN with Internet technology to allow staff to share files and access databases. Intranets are used by a third (32.0%) of all respondents, while another 10.3% of firms plan to implement one soon. Intranets, like WANs, have a much higher usage rate among larger firms than smaller ones. 83.1% of large firms have an intranet (a very similar share to those with a WAN, 84.7%), as do over half of medium firms (55.6%). But only a third of small firms (33.9%) and less than a quarter of micro firms (23.7%) use an intranet (usage among the self-employed is understandably low, at 11.6%). The figures suggest that growth potential is highest among small and medium sized firms, with 16.3% of the former and 12.9% of the latter group saying they expect to use an intranet in the future. On a sectoral basis, use of intranets is highest in the public/voluntary sector and lowest in the agricultural/primary production sector.

Extranet
An extranet uses Internet technology and infrastructure to share some of a business’s information or operations with other businesses or customers, over a secure connection. Uptake of extranets, used by only 19.1% of all firms, is quite low at present. However, the potential for growth is very strong – a further 17.2% of firms plan to use an extranet in the future. Among most sizes of firm, extranets are used by only a small minority: 7.2% of the self-employed, 17.0% of micro firms, 18.6% of small firms and 26.4% of medium firms. Only large firms have a majority usage rate (52.3%). On the basis of firms planning to use extranets in the future, market penetration could more than double among medium firms, small firms and the self-employed. Usage rates could rise to over three-quarters of large firms. On a sectoral basis, use of extranets is highest in the public/voluntary sector and lowest in the agriculture/primary production sector.

2.1.3. Other technologies
Electronic data interchange
Electronic data interchange (EDI) is the straight transmission of data from one computer to another in a standard format, without any free-form messages. Virtually a quarter of respondents (24.6%) currently use electronic data interchange (EDI), while 13.0% say they plan to use it in the future. As with other growing networking technologies, such as WAN, the rate of uptake is much higher among large firms than small ones. Only 16.8% of micro sized firms use EDI; this rises to 28.7% of small firms, 46.3% of medium firms and peaks at 65.8% of large firms. However, the potential for the spread of this technology is highest among small and medium sized firms: around 15% of both groups plan to use EDI in the future. On a sectoral basis, use of EDI is highest in the agriculture/primary production sector and lowest in the marketing/media sector.

Internet Protocol or IP Telephony
Internet Protocol (IP) telephony allows voice phone calls to be made over the Internet or another network, using a PC and a standard telephone. IP telephony has one of the lowest rates of uptake among the connection technologies on which businesses were surveyed: 15.4% of the total use IP telephony; only WiFi has a lower overall usage rate (13.2%). Along with WiFi, it is also the only connection technology which is used by less than half of large firms. IP telephony is used by 5.7% of the self-employed and 13.2% of micro firms; the rate rises with firm size and peaks at 41.5% of large firms. There is substantial room for growth. Over 10.0% of micro firms, small firms and the self-employed plan to use IP telephony in the future, and the shares are even higher for medium firms (17.0%) and large firms (22.6%). On a sectoral basis, use of IP telephony is highest in the public/voluntary sector and lowest in the hotels/restaurants sector.

[Table 2.1]
 

Table 2.1: Usage rates of connectivity technologies among firms of different sizes (%)

2.2. E-commerce
Businesses were asked about the extent to which they use computers in their business functions, whether using an internal system or connecting to systems outside their company via the Internet. It is no surprise that most businesses in the survey say they conduct most functions with the aid of computers.

In general, the proportion of businesses that report using computers for their business functions is much higher than last year. To some extent, this may be attributable to a different phrasing of the question this year (businesses were asked which functions were “conducted on internal computer systems”, whereas last year the phrase was “conducted electronically”, which may have suggested a fuller extent of computer usage in business functions). Nearly all firms use internal computer systems to manage their accounts (94.8%) and retrieve records (90.5%), and a large majority use them for human resources (79.6%) and sales (78.3%). Very roughly speaking, around two-thirds of businesses use computers for procurement (69.5%), marketing (66.6%), design and production (62.9%), and training (62.0%). Less than a third of businesses (32.2%) use computers in their export processes; however, the share of respondents involved in exporting is likely to be significantly lower than the share engaged in inescapable tasks such as account management and employment records – so computer usage rates among exporters may still be relatively high despite the low nominal figure.

Use of the Internet in business processes – as opposed to a purely internal system –exhibits some different trends. Some business processes are far more likely to make use of the Internet than others. For example, 42.6% of businesses say they use the Internet for marketing purposes, while about a third (31.6%) use it for purchasing and procurement. This contrasts with very small shares of firms who use the Internet for largely internal functions such as human resources, accounting and record retrieval (3.0%, 7.2% and 7.7%).

Large and small firms compared
Computer usage among the self-employed in most business functions is high but lower than other size categories. 84.9% of self-employed people use internal computer systems to manage their accounts, while 78.2% use them for records. For all other sizes of firm, over 90% use computers for both functions. For almost all business functions, the larger the firm, the more prevalent the use of internal computer systems. However, the self-employed are actually more likely to use the Internet for training purposes than any other size group (23.6% compared with 22.0% of large firms), highlighting its importance as a learning tool for the smallest businesses. When it comes to sales and marketing, the differences in Internet usage between small and large firms are relatively small. In purchasing and procurement, micro firms and the self-employed are more likely to use the Internet than are medium or large firms.

[Table 2.2]

Table 2.2: Usage rates of internal computer systems and/or external internet in business processes, among firms of different sizes (%)

2.3. Mobile Working
The majority of businesses (53.5%) now report that on average, some of their staff work from more than one location for at least one day a week. However, in over half of this group, the share of employees working remotely is 10% or less. In contrast, 43.1% of businesses say their staff are purely site-based. On a sectoral basis, the industry sectors where it is most common to find all staff working on site every day are hotels/restaurants and retailing/wholesaling.

The construction sector and professional services sector have the highest share of staff who work in multiple locations each week. 22.0% of construction firms say that more than half of their staff work at more than one location for an average of one day a week or more, as do 17.0% of professional services firms. Meanwhile, only 3.1% of manufacturers of consumer goods and 3.7% of manufacturers of investment goods say more than half of their staff work at multiple locations.

[Table 2.3]
 

Table 2.3: Proportion of staff working at more than one location for one day or more a week on average, by percentage of total respondents

3.0 Part II – Business Broadband

3.1. Broadband uptake

Broadband availability has increased markedly in the past year. Oftel reports that around 70% of the UK has access to broadband via DSL and around 45% via cable modem. Fixed wireless connections have the potential to provide access to around 12% of the UK while satellite has the potential to deliver broadband across the entire UK. Actual take-up of broadband by smaller companies has significant growth potential, with Oftel estimating a 16% penetration rate.

Our survey shows that the percentage of Chamber members (of all sizes) connected to Internet via broadband has risen dramatically since our survey last year, more than doubling from 19.0% to 39.0% of total respondents. This rise is even more startling when it is considered that this year’s survey was administered in the same (primarily paper-based) manner to roughly the same mix of businesses as the 2002 BCC survey of ICT use. Large companies (more than 250 employees) are most likely to be broadband users, while sole traders are least likely.

As a percentage of total respondents (including broadband and non-broadband users), the most common type of connection is ADSL (25.7%), followed by high speed leased line (5.1%) and cable (4.8%). Satellite and wireless broadband are used by 1.2% and 1.0% respectively, and only 0.4% of firms had 3G/2.5G mobile phone connections. A further 3.0% of businesses are not sure what type of broadband connection they use. Larger firms show a greater tendency to use high-speed leased lines than do smaller firms.

Comparing this with other methods of accessing the Internet, dial-up is the most popular method (35.7% of all respondents), followed by ISDN (29.0%). A further 2.4% of businesses are not sure what type of slow connection their business use, while 1.4% of respondents have no Internet connection at all. A third of non-users (32.5%) plan to acquire a connection as soon as it is available, while one in six firms plan to acquire broadband within a year. 35% of non-broadband users have no definite plans to acquire a broadband connection, though less than 2% say that they will never acquire a broadband connection.

[Table 3.1 – 3.2, Figures 3.1-3.2]
Table 3.1: Share of businesses using Internet connection technologies (% all respondents)

		Share of firms by group (%)
	ALL	Self-employed	1-19	20-49	50-249	250+
Non-broadband
No connection	1.4	2.3	1.7	0.8	0.6	0.7
Dial-up modem	35.7	57	39	28.2	22.5	18.7
ISDN (64k or 128k)	29	14.3	25.6	34.6	44.3	33.8
GPRS mobile phone	2.4	2	2.2	2.4	3.2	2.9
Don't know	2.4	0.6	1.9	3	3.6	7.2
Other slow connection	0.7	0.6	0.5	0.4	1.9	1.4
Broadband
ADSL	25.7	13.5	26.5	29.9	27.3	17.3
Cable	4.8	9.9	4.6	2.1	3.3	6.5
Satellite	1.2	0.5	0.8	2.5	1.9	0.7
Wireless	1	-	0.9	1	1.5	1.4
Leased Line	5.1	1.5	2.9	5.1	12.6	20.9
3G/2.5G mobile phone	0.4	-	0.4	0.4	0.6	1.4
Don't know	3	0.9	2.7	4.3	2.5	7.9
Other	1	0.9	0.8	1	1.5	2.2

Respondents were asked to choose more than one connection where applicable

3.2. Satisfaction with broadband
We asked existing broadband users how satisfied they were with eight aspects of their broadband connection and service. All eight aspects are considered satisfactory by more than half of users surveyed.

Consistency of speed received top marks. More than 83% of companies are quite satisfied (51.2%) or very satisfied (31.9%) with this aspect of their connection. Not far behind are satisfaction ratings for one-time installation cost (81.4% of respondents are quite satisfied or very satisfied), quality of service (80.4%), and ease of installation (80.1%). Meanwhile more than three quarters of companies (76.8%) are satisfied with the monthly cost of their broadband connection, and over 70.7% of companies are satisfied with their return on investment in broadband.

Broadband users are least impressed with the quality of technical support and choice of suppliers, which receive positive ratings from 62% and 51.8% of broadband users respectively.

Results are similar across all size groups. Professional services show the highest degree of satisfaction with all aspects of their broadband connection.

[Figure 3.3]

Figure 3.3: Satisfaction with broadband connection (%)

Table 3.3 Business perception of broadband benefits

Benefit		Share of firms by group (%)
	ALL	Self-employed	1-19	20-49	50-249	250+
More effective communication	60.8	55.6	61.7	62.8	60	51.2
Reduced Costs	45.3	38.5	46.1	46.8	44.2	45.7
Improved business productivity	46.4	47.8	47.4	43.5	46	43.4
Flexible working	28	22	27.4	27.5	31.7	40.3
More efficient procurement	26.2	23.3	25.9	27.4	27.9	25.6
Competitive advantage	21.1	22.7	22.1	20	17.5	20.9
Better access to e-learning	20	23.3	18.6	19.4	22.5	27.1
Increased Sales	13.4	14.9	14.3	11.9	12.4	7.0
No perceived benefits	8.4	11.5	8.9	6.5	6.4	9.3
Don't know	8	10.6	7.1	8.8	7.8	10.9
Reduced requirement for specialist IT skills	6.6	5.9	6.4	7.4	6.2	7.8
Other	3.6	3.1	3.9	3	3.6	2.3

3.3. Business perceptions of broadband benefits
Lack of understanding of the wider broadband value proposition is often cited as a major barrier to uptake. In order to gain more insight into this theory, both broadband users and non-users were asked about what they perceived to be the benefits of business broadband. They were asked to choose all options that applied from a list of more than a dozen, including a write-in option.

Overwhelmingly, companies of all sizes and sectors see more effective communication as the biggest benefit of having a broadband connection for their business: 60.8% of firms rate this as beneficial. Improved business productivity is the next most frequent benefit, chosen by 46.4% of respondents. Reduced costs is third, with a similar share (45.3%). However, costs are a greater priority than improved productivity for manufacturers, retailers and distributors.

These three benefits clearly lead the pack, followed by a second tier of responses rated by 20-30% of respondents. These are: flexible working (28.0%), more efficient procurement (26.2%), competitive advantage (21.1%), and better access to e-learning (20.0%).

At the lower end, 13.3% of firms perceive increased sales to be a benefit of having a broadband connection, meanwhile 6.6% of firms rate reduced requirement for specialist IT skills as a benefit. Only 8.4% of all companies surveyed (broadband and non-broadband users) believe that broadband offers no benefit to their business.

An analysis of the benefits written into the survey by firms reveals an overwhelming theme – speed. Time saved thanks to “quicker access,” “speed of service,” “speed of web searches,” “less waiting for downloads,” and “faster and cheaper communication” was cited as a broadband benefit in almost two-thirds of write-in responses. In stark contrast, less than two percent of write-in responses mention rich content services such as video conferencing and Internet telephony. As one respondent aptly put it, many businesses view broadband as a method of “simply speeding up what [businesses] do now.” For large and small companies, the results did not vary widely.

Regardless of business perception of the benefits that broadband has to offer, there is consensus on its value to business. More than half of all respondents (52.3%) agree or strongly agree that broadband is critical for their business to succeed. Almost a fifth (17%) have no opinion on the matter, while almost a third of firms either disagree (21.4%) or strongly disagree (6.6%) that broadband is critical.

[Table 3.3, Figure 3.4]

Table 3.3 Business perception of broadband benefits
 

Benefit		Share of firms by group (%)
	ALL	Self-employed	1-19	20-49	50-249	250+
More effective communication	60.8	55.6	61.7	62.8	60	51.2
Reduced Costs	45.3	38.5	46.1	46.8	44.2	45.7