Essex business needs will not be met by government broadband plans

It has been reported that ongoing government plans for faster broadband will fail to meet the business needs in the Essex area, according to the Essex Confederation of Small Businesses.

As seen in the recently released Digital Britain report from the government there are great ambitions by the government to try and get broadband access, speeds, and services, up to scratch in all areas over the next few years. However, one industry group has claimed that this will not be enough to help businesses in the Essex area of the country.

According to officials from the Essex Confederation of Small Businesses government plans for faster broadband speeds in the area will not be sufficient to meet the business needs of the area, and therefore will do nothing to help businesses in the Essex area.

One official from the FSB said: “Essex FSB has welcomed the aims of Lord Carter’s Digital Britain report published last week which aims to ensure universal access to fast broadband but to set a target of 2mbps by 2012 shows a distinct lack of ambition and means that by the time we reach the London 2012 Games we will be in a time warp compared to the rest of the world even if that target is reached. FSB research shows that one in three small businesses already have 2mbps broadband access but still struggle to do their core business activities because the connection is not reliable or fast enough for modern business needs.”

He added: “More than half of small businesses now generate around half of their annual turnover from the internet yet simple tasks such as e-mailing, marketing and buying or selling online are time consuming because their broadband speeds are letting them down. That is particularly true in rural areas and with the increasing emphasis on people working from home it is important that broadband speeds and reliability are considerably improved. In Japan high speed broadband of 90mbps is now available to everyone – a speed 45 times the target set for 2012 in this country! In Hong Kong and Singapore Wi-Fi broadband access is available free of charge throughout those countries yet in England Wi-Fi is available in a limited number of areas and is usually expensive to access. Failure to set and implement ambitious targets for broadband speed and reliability will seriously impede the effectiveness of British businesses, especially small businesses. British businesses will find it harder to compete in the global market place and this will hinder the creation of wealth and jobs within the UK economy.”

Source – www.harlowherald.co.uk