As regular readers of this column will know, I'm part of a team running a wireless broadband network in a rural community. The network side of things is going quite well, but perhaps more surprising is the type of customer it has attracted and the way they use the system.

When we did our planning, we estimated that only a small number of businesses would use the network. Our prediction turned out wide of the mark however, because while the firms we expected to sign up did so, we were astonished by how much other business activity goes on in our small village. About 50 percent of our customers either use broadband for their own business or to work from home via a virtual private network (VPN) link to their employer's main site.

Only a very small number represent what you might call conventional businesses in that they have a sign on the door, employees and office equipment. Most are small service operations providing expertise to other companies in a wide range of specialisations, IT being one of the most prevalent - I was surprised to find out just how many telecoms and networking consultants live in our village.

The next largest group were those involved in the mail-order business, where people sell goods from their web sites and, often, via the eBay auction site. These operations are interesting because many have no warehouse but rely on others to do the order fulfilment.

One customer used to have a shop in a nearby town, but sold it because the costs were high and the level of business was low compared with internet trading.

We also have a financial day trader signed up to the service. Day trading must be the ultimate in electronic home working in that one never needs to leave the house at all. In fact, some traders are reluctant to go out in case they miss out on many important market developments.

One of the most common questions that customers ask is whether the service can handle VPN traffic. This is vital to many of our customers who want to have the PC at home behave in the same way as the one at the office. Typically, the employer pays directly for the service; the employee gets the ability to work from home and free internet access as a bonus.

The coming of our broadband service means that many more people can now work from home either for the first time or more efficiently than before. This makes us all feel rather virtuous.

The fact that there are now more people in the village during the day should be good news for the shops and pubs, but I don't think the effect is yet noticeable. However, it is clear that a beneficial trend is emerging. The Countryside Agency conducts studies but, from our limited experience, I think the broadband benefits are far more sweeping than it has found so far.

Unfortunately, not all employers have an enlightened attitude to home working and many local people still have to commute to their offices every day. Those companies ought to review their policies from time to time because home working is often justifiable on financial grounds alone.

The extra benefits of lower stress levels and more loyal employees are the icing on the cake.