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Britain needs better broadband, says IoD

Productivity amongst large corporations and start up firms would be greatly improved by faster broadband speeds, while few are currently satisfied with mobile internet speeds.

An Institute of Directors survey, carried out across UK chief executives and directors, found that more investment is needed to meet the broadband demands of British businesses.

Findings showed that 83% of firms could improve their productivity through faster broadband, while only 25% are satisfied with mobile internet speeds.

A wide gap between urban and rural areas was also identified, with just 34% of businesses in rural areas satisfied with their internet provision and only 13% happy with mobile download speeds.

British Telecom are in the process of rolling out fibre broadband across the country through their company, Openreach.

42% of IoD members said they were dissatisfied with the Openreach service, while in rural areas 46% were not happy, in comparison with 23% who were.

IoD members said improvements in broadband would offer a more flexible way of working to over half of their businesses, and 31% would invest more in their business if internet speeds were better.

Employment would also be boosted, as 13% of respondents said they would hire more staff if the internet was faster.

Corin Taylor, senior economic adviser to the IoD, said: “Fast, reliable internet connections are essential to a modern business – but far too often our existing infrastructure falls short.

“Increasing internet speeds would encourage many employers to invest in expanding their businesses and taking on more staff, giving the economy a welcome boost.

“The digital age is about flexibility and efficiency, but rural businesses in particular are missing out on those advantages because the landline and mobile networks simply aren’t up to scratch in large parts of the countryside.

“There is a lot of work to be done before the service provided in the real world matches up to the rhetoric coming from Westminster and Whitehall.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .