The European Investment Bank (EIB) has cited the provision of high speed broadband services for business as one of the crucial ingredients for generating economic growth across Europe.
The EIB says that the provision of superfast broadband and its adoption by businesses will greatly help expand trade and develop markets in the continent.
Plutarchos Sakellaris, EIB vice-president, says that the bank therefore intends to fully support high speed business broadband, which it views as one of its “long-term priorities”.
The EIB’s enthusiasm for high speed business broadband echoes that often expressed by national governments, local authorities and business leaders across the continent, including the UK.
More to the point: high speed business broadband is increasingly seen as an essential utility rather than a luxury; enabling businesses to respond effectively and efficiently to demand; and to compete on an even keel with other businesses worldwide.
High speed business broadband is also seen as crucial for helping to open the doors to essential business tools. Among the most important of these tools is internet protocol (IP) telephony.
IP telephony is often associated merely with cheaper phone costs. Whilst it is true that voice calls made via business VoIP (voice over internet protocol) can be significantly cheaper than those made via conventional telephone lines, IP telephony also offers many other benefits for businesses.
Among the most talked about benefits of IP telephony is its ability to enable businesses to manage internal phone line connections simply and effectively; including the facility for staff to send and receive calls over the same extension regardless of where they might happen to be geographically.
However, whilst IP telephony can be enabled via in-house installations or the services of a host business VoIP provider, a suitable high speed business broadband connection still remains an essential prerequisite before a business can consider adopting this technology.
