Will “Superfast Broadband” arrive in time for your business?

Posted on 25/08/2011 by Cat

Last week saw The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, one again reiterate the government’s commitment to rolling out “Superfast Broadband” throughout the UK. It has now been announced that local authorities will have access to fund of over £50 million to help make this dream a reality. This fund is dwarfed by the £600 million allocated to achieve this in the next 4 years.

The Chancellor stated: “Broadband is crucial for the country’s economic future; that is why the coalition government is investing over half a billion pounds in it’s infrastructure. We aim to have the very best broadband network in Europe by 2015” A bold statement considering how far connectivity in the UK lags behind many European countries at present.

However, whilst the business world has been assured they will be a major beneficiary of this ambitious roll out there are clear disadvantages of using any form of broadband within a business situation which even the deployment of a “Superfast” solution is unlikely to address.

Firstly, and most importantly, broadband is very much a public service. The issue here is “fix times” and “SLA’s”. Most broadband providers in the UK have no SLAs or poor fix times. At present most providers quote “up to 10 days” to fix a fault when it occurs. How would your business fare with no access to email or the World Wide Web for 2 weeks? It is worth noting that there have been no assurances from the government that this will change with the advent of “Superfast Broadband”.

The second issue concerning broadband centres around the concept of contention. The world’s technology is progressing at an ever faster pace and we are seeing a dramatic increase in “bandwidth-hungry” applications, all of which threaten business broadband speeds. In the last 12 months we have seen the rise of mobility, tablet devices and the introduction of Sky Anytime Plus. These have increased the strain on an already struggling solution and more worryingly this trend seems set to continue.

Finally, there are also concerns surrounding security and the software/devices used to manage this. Businesses rely on their connectivity to the world and demand a solution that fights against cyber crime. When using an “open to all” service, businesses cannot rely on the measures recommended by ISPs.

It is clear that “Superfast Broadband” is still a long way off yet solutions to this problem are needed now. UK organisations rely on connectivity to operate and cannot risk their future on the current offerings or future promises. Businesses must look to alternatives and as trusted providers of business data products, Silver Lining would recommend considering the following, readily available solutions:

Leased Line: A leased line provides an “always on” connection between office sites and a more secure break out to the internet. The core advantage is the guaranteed service levels and fix times that accompany this product.

EFM: EFM, or Ethernet First Mile, is a new product which is a low cost alternative to the historically expensive leased line option. EFM refers to the link between your business premises and the last provided node (exchange, junction box, etc). Essentially, rather than running connectivity on a single copper line (a telephone line) EFM combines multiple lines to offer greater bandwidth. It also comes with enhanced service levels.

Whilst we are promised that “superfast” broadband is on it’s way many of us require a solution today. Call Silver Lining to discuss your business data needs and let us explain the options available to you.

JD guest blogs for Silver Lining and has 15 years experience working in the telecommunications industry. Choosing a life of anonymity, some say he has USB drives for fingers. All we know is you can’t download experience.

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