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Dorset Firms Want Faster Broadband Soon - 28/07/2010
DORSET BUSINESS SURVEY SHOWS MANY DORSET FIRMS WANT
FASTER BROADBAND SOON
Dorset businesses want faster broadband, they want it by next year, but many don’t want to pay much more to achieve it!
These are three clear conclusions of the Dorset Chambers of Commerce Digital Taskforce survey of their members throughout the county, conducted online earlier this year.
Of those surveyed, 38.9 per cent currently receive 1 to 4Mbps [megabites per second] on their broadband connection, while 30.5 per cent have from 5 to 8Mbps. However, 64 per cent want a connection speed of over 10Mbps- and 86 per cent want to achieve it in the next year.
Now that the need for faster broadband speeds has been clearly established by the Dorset business community in the survey, the Dorset Business Council has tasked the Digital Dorset Taskforce with pressing BT- and other suppliers such as C4L and Fibre City in Bournemouth- to actually increase broadband speeds. For example C4L say they could provide 10Mbps wireless broadband to some areas of Dorset for £30 a month.
British Telecom supply broadband to 42.9 per cent of those surveyed, with Virgin taking 10.1 per cent. Currently, 32.7 per cent pay up to £20 a month for broadband and 27.3 per cent pay up to £30 a month. The survey reveals that many customers are not prepared to pay much more. One in ten of those surveyed reveals cost is not the main issue, but speed most certainly is.
Reasons advanced by businesses for needing higher broadband speeds include transfer of large amounts of data, working remotely with clients and improving the timely delivery of goods.
The survey followed the high-level meeting between BT and the Dorset Business Council at Poole and BT’s request to the council to ascertain the business need for higher broadband speeds. Jon Reynolds, BT South West Regional Director, told the Dorset Business Council that as a tier one sponsor of the 2012 Olympic Games, BT will install a high capacity and high resilience broadband connection to Portland. The exchanges at Weymouth and Portland would be upgraded. However, this infrastructure would be evaluated before and after the Games to consider whether demand will ensure its future utilisation. Two fibre optic cables are being laid to Portland, one from Exeter and one from Salisbury. Branches from these cables will be able to serve adjacent areas like Blandford, Bournemouth and Poole.
"BT is looking to establish if the level of demand from Dorset businesses for improved broadband services will repay the considerable investment that will have to be made," Mr Reynolds told the Dorset Business Council meeting at Poole. "The Dorset business community must make their feelings known. BT is looking at the radical development of broadband in Dorset. But the last thing we want to do is spend millions on new technology and find nobody wants it."
Late last year, the Dorset Business Council created the Digital Dorset Taskforce, to pursue the faster broadband project, with BT and other suppliers. Led by Dr. Monica Seeley of the Mesmo Consultancy in Bournemouth, the taskforce includes Mike Wright, Immediate Past President of Dorset Chambers of Commerce, Matthew Beaumont [Multi Area Agreement Programme Manager for Dorset Chambers of Commerce,] Michel Hooper-Immins [Secretary of Weymouth & Portland Chamber of Commerce, Industry & Tourism] and Bournemouth computer expert Luke Williams.
Taskforce Chairman Dr. Monica Seeley says "our priority now is to move this project along with BT and other possible suppliers, to convince them of the needs of Dorset businesses. Fast broadband is vital for most nearly every business which needs to transfer information electronically, from a micro business needing to send graphics and video to a large multinational processing orders and accounts. Whilst large companies can often throw money at the issue, smaller companies cannot. If we cannot deliver affordable fast broadband, Dorset risks losing employers and micro-businesses as they look to other locations. This will have an impact both on our economy and the calibre of business people who choose to work in Dorset."
BT say 12 Dorset exchanges have already been upgraded- Boscombe, Bournemouth, Christchurch, Dorchester, Ferndown, Northbourne, Parkstone, Poole, Westbourne, Weymouth, Wimborne and Winton.
The new high capacity fibre connections to the Olympic sailing Press Centre at Portland will be capable of 100Mbps. "The hope is that higher broadband speeds of up to 100Mbps can be offered to businesses in Weymouth & Portland by 2012," says Michel Hooper-Immins, a Weymouth member of the Dorset Business Council. "It all depended on the demand for better broadband speeds being established- this Dorset Business survey certainly underlines that demand. We need the fibre cables laid to serve the Games to continue in use long after 2012."
Peter Scott, Chief Executive of Dorset Business, comments: "Building on the progress achieved by our Digital Dorset Taskforce, we must look beyond the now relatively short-term needs associated with the Olympics and help create a digital infrastructure that further boosts the competitiveness of businesses located in Dorset."
Questions were asked at the Dorset Business Council about broadband in rural areas, often at the lowest end of the speed scale. Jon Reynolds said BT were investigating satellite broadband, which could be the answer to known difficulties in rural areas. He added that a lot of time has been lost in the winter months due to staff being unable to go to work, so improved broadband speeds would help the ability to work at home in bad weather, which in turn will help business productivity.
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