04 Nov 2009
BT has chosen Glasgow as the location for its third trial of fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) high-speed broadband.
Running until April 2010, the trial will give local businesses access to download speeds of up to 40Mbit/s and an upload speed of 2Mbit/s, according to BT.
BT has already begun two trials in Muswell Hill, London and Whitchurch, Cardiff that allow homes and businesses to access BT retail fibre technology.
BT Business managing director Bill Murphy said: “Our three super-fast broadband trials will mean businesses can tell us just how they want to use the services and allow us to work out what is possible in practice."
BT has also just published research after polling 7,200 small and medium-sized enterprises that found that 28 per cent of them were already using faster broadband to expand web site capabilities. A further 25 per cent said they were using it to drive more processes online.
The survey was conducted by technology market research specialist Vanson Bourne.
BT's latest superfast broadband trials are a step in the right direction for businesses, but because they are asymmetrical (i.e. upload speeds are not the same as download), they don't go far enough, particularly for small businesses that now use the internet for much more than browsing the web and downloading attachments. Their need for symmetrical internet connections such as SDSL, bonded SDSL or leased lines that offer identical speeds in both directions is rapidly increasing. Online software such as Salesforce and Google Apps are being used more and more by businesses every day and VoIP, video conferencing and even online backup services also require high upload speeds to work effectively.
While not every small business needs a symmetrical connection right now, business ISPs have a duty to offer these types of connections to those that need them today, and not just in trial form. Demand for symmetrical internet connections is set to grow significantly as these tools become more popular.
Posted by: Chris Stening, MD, Easynet Connect 09 Nov 2009
Sorry, I'm not holding my breath on this one. I had a situation where my BT BroadBand connection hadn't connected to anything for 6 weeks, and calls to the helpdesk chasing the call were still hit with the 'Can you switch the router on and off' scripts... I'm sticking with an alternative (fibre) provider!
Posted by: Steve 06 Nov 2009
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