Small businesses still relying on home broadband

Small firms using a home broadband connection may be jeopardising their business

Nearly two thirds of UK small businesses still rely on a home broadband connection for professional use, according to internet service provider Pipex.

A survey of 900 small business owners revealed that 64 per cent use a home broadband connection as their most frequent way of connecting to the internet, compared to just 30 per cent who use a business broadband connection.

Connectivity forms an increasingly vital part of almost every business today, Pipex said, and using a home connection can prove troublesome as it does not have the same service levels and access speeds as a business connection.

Pipex believes that the negative impact on a business relying on a home connection will only grow with the continued adoption of hosted services, software-as-a-service and bandwidth-heavy applications such as videoconferencing.

The survey also revealed the extent to which small businesses rely on broadband. Some 69 per cent said that 'not being able to connect to the internet' was the most frustrating situation they could encounter, followed by 'not getting access to email' at 60 per cent. These were both placed significantly higher than more traditional daily hiccups such as traffic jams, cancelled appointments, or losing a set of keys or a mobile phone.

The results suggest that some of this reliance is down to a preference for working from home. Over half (55 per cent) of those surveyed said that they are at their most productive when working from home, compared to 35 per cent who preferred the office.

"The research clearly shows that broadband is a vital business tool and, with such easy access, the office may no longer be the preferred working environment, " said Lance Spencer, product and marketing director at Pipex.