Posted: 24th Aug, 2006 By: MarkJ
BT Business reports that the Southeast of England is this years
business broadband hotspot, with nearly 25% more connections than its nearest rival. Unfortunately the Northeast didnt do so well, again highlighting a divide between the regions:
The figures, which show that 20 per cent of BT Business Broadband customers are located in the Southeast of England and only three per cent in the Northeast, highlight the difference in levels of take up between the regions.
London came second from the 11 regions, with 15 per cent, followed by the East of England and the Northwest, with 12 and ten per cent respectively. In fifth and sixth place came the Southwest and West Midlands.
Scotland took seventh place with seven per cent, followed by the East Midlands and Yorkshire and Humberside tying for eighth place on six per cent of UK connections. Wales came in tenth with four per cent.
To help companies without high-speed internet understand the benefits it can bring to their business and to show those that already have broadband how they can get the most from their connection, BT has launched its latest guide for small businesses, Understanding Broadband for Business.
Bill Murphy, managing director of BT Business, said: Smaller companies are continuing to adopt broadband at an extraordinary rate and were still taking orders for around 20,000 new connections each month.
What were finding is that areas that didnt have many early adopters are now really embracing broadband and thats where the current growth is. The other thing is, these later adopters are often more innovative and not just using broadband for e-mail and surfing the internet. Instead, theyre using high-speed internet to take advantage of services like remote support and broadband telephone services.
David Frost, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said: The internet is evolving rapidly, and we see our small business members across the country increasingly exploiting the benefits of broadband.
The Northeast of England has always been more focused on traditional industries and has been slower to adopt new computer technologies, but thats changing. Although there is a regional difference at the moment, there will be very little difference between North and South in a couple of years.
To download the Understanding Broadband for Business guide, go to http://www.bt.com/business/broadbandguide .Its not clear whether BT Business was counting only ADSL or not.