Inadequate broadband access is costing London SMEs money and opportunities

More than four in five SMEs say they need a broadband connection to operate successfully

Inadequate broadband access at work is having an impact on the operations of London's small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

UK broadband ISP CommunityFibre (so, not totally unbiased) conducted the survey with market research specialist 3Gem, asking 500 SMEs in London about the significance of a broadband connection for their businesses.

While 86 per cent of the SMEs said they need a broadband connection to operate successfully, one in five have "no idea" about the speed that their current broadband connection is running at. Moreover, 85 per cent don't know how fast their broadband must be for their business to thrive.

More than two in five SMEs (44 per cent) said inadequate broadband access has cost their business money since the onset of coronavirus pandemic. Nearly one-third were forced to upgrade their subscription during the pandemic because of inadequate speed.

The survey further revealed that 71 per cent of London SMEs had to, at least partially, close their work premises due to coronavirus, and only two in five were able to shift to a fully online business model.

More than two-thirds (72 per cent) of respondents said they will review their broadband quality on priority once situation returns to normal.

Other findings:

• 74 per cent of SMEs will look into the fastest broadband connection available in the area
• 77 per cent will, or plan to, switch to other service provider
• 60 per cent said faster broadband speed and quality are more important for their business operations than financial support (54 per cent), or a functioning supply chain (52 per cent)
• 66 per cent said they now trust employees to work from home permanently since coronavirus pandemic, but 11 per cent do not
• A quarter of the SME respondents have not yet taken a decision on whether they will return to having a physical location again post-pandemic
• "Reliability" was named as the most essential feature of a broadband connection helping business thrive (73 per cent), followed by download speed (56 per cent) and stability (51 per cent)