The government is set to make it easier for businesses to gain access to fibre optic broadband by providing a £60 million tax boost for the digital sector. Fibre optic broadband is far superior in terms of connection speed and several other factors, but at the moment, fibre optic connections are relatively rare, and have limited coverage. Telecoms networks are currently required to pay business rates for any fibre infrastructure required in order to deliver this high-quality form of broadband to both businesses and homes.
To combat this, and enable telecom providers to more easily lay new fibre optic connections, ministers have proposed giving telecoms providers a tax break of up to five years for the costs of the infrastructure required to provide fibre optic broadband.
This is great news for both telecoms providers and businesses, as it means fibre optic may soon be as easily obtained as any other connection. In the interim, however, you still have businesses, and you still need broadband. With so many options and the current difficulties of obtaining fibre optic connections it’s difficult to know what to choose.
The exact nature of the business broadband you get is dependent upon your company, including its needs and its size. Here’s our guide to figuring out exactly what kind of business broadband you need in the mean time.
A typical business broadband connection starts at about 2Mbit/s, and speeds from 8Mbit/s to 24Mbit/s are the norm. Fibre optic networks that utilise light for the transfer of data can go as high as 40Mbit/s, sometimes higher.
The speed you need depends upon the number of people using your connection. The more employees you have using your business broadband, the faster it needs to be. As a rough guide
It is slightly more complicated than this however. You may find higher priced connections which offer lower speeds, but also have a lower contention ratio. This may make them a more suitable choice for a business with multiple users than a high speed, cheaper connection.
Some services that business users need are not used by home broadband users, and so are not available on all packages. Things like email servers, which are required for dedicated email addresses, and File Transfer Protocol (FTP), which is essential for website maintenance and uploading new files and content, are not guaranteed. Be careful when selecting to ensure you are able to do everything you need.
Business connections aren’t as likely to feature caps and download limits like home broadband, but it does still happen so be wary. Getting an ‘unlimited’ connection is the best course, as it ensures you always have as much as you need and aren’t hit with costly fines.
Look for high levels of support that offer essentials like 24/7 help lines, a dedicated account manager, and the ability to easily raise ‘tickets’ online that are sent straight to support staff to be actioned.
Deciding on the right business broadband package can be tricky. If you need a hand selecting yours, check out our business broadband services, or get in touch with us at RHM Telecommunications, we’re happy to help.
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