Industry Highlights - September 2016

A good broadband service is a lifeline to most businesses these days. And with the increasing uptake of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol / Internet Telephony) services, a good internet connection is even more important.

The same old story of bad broadband speed

I was out for dinner with a friend who runs his own business. Their business is run entirely online, interacting with sites like Not On The High Street, processing orders, marketing heavily through social media.

Having just moved into a new studio they stuck with the same broadband provider. But their broadband speed and connection started failing them.

But as is typical I'm sure, their broadband provider just isn't very helpful in resolving it. They're simply claiming that it's either his router or Openreach's fault (it's always so easy to blame Openreach).

Maybe today's announcement from Ofcom will bring him some renewed hope:

"UK businesses will receive more accurate and reliable information on broadband speeds before they sign up to a contract, under new protections that come into force today.   As part of a new Ofcom Code, providers also commit to resolve any problems that businesses have with broadband speeds effectively, and allow customers to exit their contract at any point if speeds fall below a minimum guaranteed level.   So far, BT Business, Daisy Communications, KCOM, TalkTalk Business, Virgin Media, XLN and Zen have signed up to the voluntary Code. Together, they provide a service to around two thirds of small or medium sized enterprises (SMEs) who have standard broadband."

Granted, he's already in a contract, but any kind of user protection is ammunition in a discussion with your service provider.

It's interesting how this sort of protection has existed for consumers for some time now, but has only just been introduced for business users.

To read more from Ofcom's announcement, visit the Ofcom website.