New research published today by Oftel suggests that 63% of small and medium sized UK businesses are now on-line, an increase from 55% in May 2001. In addition, 36% of all SMEs use more than one fixed telecoms supplier and one in three SMEs use an unmetered internet access package. Over one third of medium sized businesses (51-250 employees) are now using leased lines.

The figures from the UK telecoms watchdog follow a less positive report by GartnerG2, a business research and advisory service, on the consumer internet access market. According to GartnerG2, the so-called “broadband revolution” in Europe is on hold.

Based on a survey conducted across France, Germany and the UK, it said that consumers are not prepared to pay a premium for broadband. Unless prices come down dramatically, GartnerG2 predicts that only 10% of households in France, Germany and the UK will have broadband internet access by 2005.

The research firm identifies a major problem as being the absence of a “must have” application to convince the majority of consumers they need broadband, let alone pay for content. According to the survey, fewer than 10% of internet households think broadband currently provides good value.

We are processing your request. \n Thank you for your patience. An error occurred. This could be due to inactivity on the page - please try again.