Oxfordshire businesses are lagging behind others in the UK, owing to a lack of fast broadband infrastructure in the area, according to the president of the Oxfordshire Chamber of Commerce, Nigel Wild.
Mr Wild said that ‘super speedy broadband’ should be considered ‘a necessity for businesses’, and urged that high speed broadband connection capability be provided throughout the county as soon as possible.
The business leader claimed to be speaking from his own negative experience of working from home as a consultant; describing his own broadband service as ‘appalling’, and adding: ‘I have a little piece of copper wire which makes it very difficult to send even a photograph’.
Mr Wild’s comments echo those of other business and political leaders up and down the country who are equally worried about the lack of high speed broadband capability in some outlying and rural areas.
It is acknowledged that without adequate broadband capacity, businesses will not only experience poorer communications, they will also be unable to benefit from the many added value services the internet currently offers.
IP telephony – or ‘internet protocol’ telephony – is one such added value service currently taking the business world by storm across the globe.
IP telephony can not only enable companies to take advantage of cheaper calls via business VoIP (voice over internet protocol) – either through the installation of new business phone systems or via hosted assistance from a business VoIP provider or VoIP reseller – but can also make it easier to access a host of other services such as the transmission and reception of video images; and the setting up of impromptu video conferencing events.
The UK government has recognized that without adequate broadband provision, such benefits can prove extremely difficult to exploit, and is currently engaged in a programme of investment in nationwide high speed broadband provision.
