UK businesses demand high-speed telecoms

More than half of UK businesses want SDSL connections, but are not able to get them

Nearly 19 out of 20 businesses believe that the UK needs a high-performance telecommunications infrastructure in every part of the country for the UK to compete on a global basis, according to research by the Communications Management Association (CMA).

The CMA survey also that shows more than half of businesses want symmetric digital subscriber line (SDSL) connections, but are not able to get the service where they need them. SDSL gives firms the same bandwidth whether they are receiving or sending data across networks, important for internet facing web servers, back-office and software-as-a-service (SaaS) systems, and business customers making voice over IP (VoIP) calls.

CMA chief executive Glenn Powell said the survey showed "the urgency with which the measures proposed by the recent interim Digital Britain report are needed".

Powell said: "We welcome the measures proposed in Lord Carter’s report which we believe, if implemented, will enable British companies to remain competitive in the current tough economic climate.”

The survey also highlighted other key network issues, with 72 per cent of the sample saying that VoIP was "a key element of their company's collaboration strategy", with wireless VoIP being "of significant interest" to 61 per cent.

But 62 per cent said VoIP rollouts had been more complex than expected with two-thirds saying that anticipated cost savings "had yet to be realised."

Unified communications had been deployed in part by 45 per cent of respondents, while another 30 per cent said they were either implementing or planning a deployment within the next year.

The survey covered 386 organisations, ranging from mid-sized corporates to small enterprises and "one-man bands".