Of the 150 IoD members that responded, 63% had broadband but only 10% said that their needs were being met. Over three-quarters of managing directors felt that the lack of a local service was a primary hindrance to broadband adoption and 48% stated that grants or tax breaks should be offered to push companies in the direction of high-speed internet services.
Jonathan Cummins, the director of e-business at the IoD commented: “It is very encouraging to see that so many business chiefs cite broadband as an important business issue. However, for the government to meet its target of making the UK the ‘best environment for ebusiness’, UK business needs more coverage, more competition and more bandwidth options. To achieve this, more government support is needed.”
After a slow start, broadband is catching on in the UK and Oftel claims that 30,000 new connections are established every week (see UK Broadband Revolution Gathers Pace).
