Business broadband demand rockets

Unprecedented demand for business broadband in 2003 will fuel double-digit sales growth rates for telcos and ISPs providing high-speed services, according to UK researcher Analysys.

In its latest report, Business Data Services: growth opportunities and forecasts 2002-2007, the Cambridge-based analyst predicts that European business data service revenues will grow from €36bn (£24.64bn) in 2002 to €52bn (£35.61bn) by 2007.

"Demand for these services is driven by a need to provide enterprise-wide connectivity for internet protoco [IP] based applications, growing volumes of email, increasing numbers of remote workers, migration to integrated voice and data, and the adoption of video services," said Margaret Hopkins, the report's author.

"What we will see in the next five years is a gradual decline in revenue growth rates, more carrier consolidation and a migration of data from leased lines, asynchronous transfer mode and Frame Relay to IP-virtual private networks, Ethernet and digital subscriber line (DSL)," Hopkins added.

The substantial growth in DSL uptake will be mirrored by a corresponding decline in use of relatively expensive leased line access, according to Analysys.

But the report concludes that Ethernet will ultimately become the dominant data transport both within corporate sites and for wide area networks.