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BT DSL – a miracle cure for business

I was blind - and now I can see

Research commissioned by BT has found that broadband technology lowers costs for businesses, improves efficiency and productivity, and makes great strides towards profitability.

What's more, DSL also increases workplace morale, which in turn leads to improvements in the quality of work undertaken by employees.

In fact, half of those quizzed in the Fletcher Advisory survey felt that employees were "generally happier" since the company adopted broadband.

Broadband also gives companies that much-needed "competitive edge" in a business world where the slightest advantage can make the difference between profit and loss.

In short, the only thing broadband failed to deliver was a cure for AIDS and an end to world hunger.

What's worrying, is that if BTopenworld's DSL service is so bloody fantastic, why is it not shouting about it from the top of BT Tower?

If its DSL service is so good for business, why will half the population be excluded from using it on the grounds that they live in the wrong place?

And if BT's DSL offering is so terrific, why have so few people signed up for the service?

The report's authors write (it might be worth getting a bucket at this point): "Our findings suggest that the initial impact of Broadband on smaller businesses is far greater than might have been expected.

"As researchers we have, frankly, been surprised that an increase in the speed and usability of a simple Internet connection could have been so important to so many different types of business in so short a space of time.

"If the trends we have seen in our work so far could indeed be replicated on a massive scale, the impact on the competitive health of the small business sector in this country could be profound."

Of course, they're entitled to their opinion. But while the report does utter a few words of caution, it merely glosses over the structural problems of BT and its DSL roll-out leaving informed readers to conclude that this report is nothing short of PR fluff.

The report says: "First, the projections about the future contained in this Report are based upon likely demand for Broadband services rather than on actual supply.

"We are aware that there are problems of availability of these services in some areas and that connecting up more than a million smaller firms over the next few years is going to represent a significant challenge to service providers and infrastructure companies."

A "significant challenge?" Ha! That's one way of putting it. ®

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