Broadband and Your Business

Broadband (high-speed Internet) connections can provide a host of benefits to businesses. It can help you lower your costs (through improving or streamlining your operations/processes), reach new markets (for example by selling on-line to distance customers), retain your existing customers (say, by using email newsletters and special offer marketing), and to train and develop your staff.

Also, broadband offers cost-effective, fast and immediate access to a wide range of Internet resources. These include specialized web-based applications in the areas of human resource management, customer relationship management, financial/accounting systems, distribution and logistics control, etc.

One of the greatest benefits of broadband is the permanent always-on Internet connection it provides. This is vital for businesses that need to transmit data -- either regularly or real-time -- to central offices or other locations.  Remember, though, you will need to set up appropriate security measures to limit your exposure to viruses and other e-business risks.

Research Data About Broadband Benefits:

• Although all businesses may have different drivers for moving to broadband, it's clear that once they have done so, productivity rises. In a survey of 500 small businesses with broadband DSL, the research firm The Yankee Group reports that 68 percent of respondents believe they have already seen a positive return on investment thanks to the use of broadband connections, while 56% say that DSL access is indispensable to their business (Reuters)
• 372 U.S. IT professionals responding to a July 2002 InfoWorld survey reported the top five broadband benefits as:
      - Improved productivity (78%)
      - Faster desktop access (76%)
      - Ability to handle data- intensive applications (57%)
      - Ability to handle more users (53%)
      - Ability to handle multimedia (51%)
• In the "Net Impact Study" conducted by the University of California-Berkley, the Brookings Institution and Momentum Resources Group credited e-business solutions with cumulative cost savings of $155 billion to U.S. organizations through 2001. Internet business process solutions are expected to produce $373 billion in cost savings by 2005 and more than $500 billion by 2010, based heavily on high-speed applications. (Varian, “The Net Impact Study,” Jan. 2002).