ISPr Survey – Broadband Helping Two Thirds of People to Remote Work

More and more people across the United Kingdom appear to be taking part in remote working (online). According to our latest monthly survey of 1,095 readers, some 67.6% of respondents said they now remote work from home or while commuting to their day job (32.3% said they don’t remote work at all) and access to better broadband is almost certainly helping the trend.

Interestingly just 19.2% said that the only time they remote work from home is when they’re on sick leave, which next to the 67.6% figure above suggests that there’s a much clearer and perhaps more intentional trend towards the practice.

But sadly remote working over the Internet also appears to be making it harder to escape from work, even when on holiday, with half of respondents saying they’ve done so.

Do you ever remote work (online) from home or while commuting?
Yes – 67.6%
No – 32.3%

Do you only remote work from home when ill?
No – 80.7%
Yes – 19.2%

Do you ever remote work while on holiday?
No – Never – 48.2%
Yes – Rarely – 31%
Yes – Frequently – 20.7%

What device do you use most often when remote working?
PC / MAC Computer – 56.8%
Other / None – 17.7%
Smartphone (iPhone etc.) – 17.6%
Tablet (iPad etc.) – 7.8%

The importance of remote working to an economy is nothing new and in that sense it’s good to see that so many respondents are doing it. Remote working can also deliver a change in working patters, which may have other important benefits, such as by making daily commutes on the public transport more productive and through helping to reduce the level of traffic on our roads.

But using the Internet to work from home, or while commuting, often requires a good broadband connection; especially if it involves the transmission of large files or other data intensive tasks. Indeed this is why the practice is often highlighted as one of the primary reasons for helping to drive the on-going improvements in broadband connectivity, especially in rural areas.

The government’s Broadband Delivery UK project, which intends to make ‘superfast’ speeds of greater than 24Mbps (Megabits per second) available to 95% of people by 2017, is a big help in all this. However it’s important that the Government finds a way to extend this promise to the final 5% of the country so that businesses and their employees can reap the benefits, no matter where they’re based.

In doing all this we’d also like to see BDUK put a greater focus on upload speeds, which are particularly vital for businesses tasks (e.g. sending large files).

Meanwhile this month’s new survey asks whether or not you think the UK government should introduce a Universal Service Obligation (USO) for broadband connectivity? Vote Here.