Challanges Facing Business ADSL in the Future

ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) carries data over a standard copper telephone wire. It enables internet connectivity for both a single PC and a LAN (local area network) via an ADSL modem or router setup. It is defined as asymmetric because the download speed is greater than the upload speed which is usually a preferable mode for business internet operations.

ADSL has a number of advantages and disadvantages compared with other internet connectivity solutions. The advantages are largely similar across all range of ISP services currently available, however ADSL does offer significantly cheaper tariffs in comparison to services such as ISDN and leased lines.

ADSL advantages

• Cost effective flat-rate monthly tariffs compared with alternative service providers
• Advantageous Installation timescales

Critically ADSL has a number of distinct disadvantages compared with services such as ISDN and leased lines.

ADSL disadvantages

• Actual download speeds not guaranteed.
• Business must be within a 5.5km radius of an ADSL-enabled BT exchange.
• Non nationwide coverage
• Contention ratios. ADSL shares its connection with other business users so this can slow down respective connection speeds.
• Limited upstream speeds

When assessing these advantages and disadvantages large business organisations are unlikely to utilise ADSL as their primary ISPprovider for the following reasons. Leased lines provide a dedicated connection with no contention, a guaranteed bandwidth and significantly higher level of availability and Service Level Agreements, which are not available with the other types of broadband. In addition large businesses can require upstream speeds to be synchronous with downstream speeds that ADSL does not offer. Security issues in business sectors such as financial services would also make leased lines preferable.

Despite the disadvantages of ADSL uptake within large organisations, ISP’s should look to focus on the deployment of ADSL services within the SME (small medium enterprises) sector, which has both significant potential and upside.

Recent surveys suggest that over half of existing SME’s do not actually have any Internet presence. Clearly with this statistic in mind the lack of uptake in internet connectivity cannot be solely attributed to cost considerations but also to a clear lack of understanding of the advantages that e-commerce can offer the businesses within this sector. These businesses need to understand the overall benefits their business will gain from having Internet connectivity. ADSL will provide these business with a relatively cost-effective solution providing a platform for these businesses to market their services via a website and to increase their potential access to a wider consumer audience via applications such as e-mail and web browsing.

However many businesses remain suspicious of the Internet and have concerns relating to hacking and potential exposure to viruses. In addition there is also a justifiable concern that trading on the Internet carries associated risks such that transactions and sensitive account details may be subject to criminal intrusion.

ISPs need to reassure prospective clients that they can provide secure environments in which companies can utilise Internet connectivity. Ideally they should offer a complete installation service including a router and firewall solution tailored to an individual organisation’s requirements. Many ISP’s do not offer installation and integration of ADSL services within an organisation to a satisfactory level. They are frequently instead dependant on unskilled employees to set-up their ADSL services in-house which can be counter productive for both the end user and the ISP concerned. As ADSL is not designed to provide a web hosting platform ISP’s should ensure that they also offer these services to prospective clients.

There are increasing numbers of businesses springing up in rural areas. As they are frequently located in areas that do not have their exchanges enabled or are more than 5.5km from an ADSL-enabled BT exchange, ADSL broadband access becomes prohibitive. In addition BT uses a pre-registration criteria for the enabling of certain exchanges. This allows BT to register the level of interest in broadband in a particular community. Trigger levels are set which requires a certain number of orders for broadband before an exchange could be enabled. Clearly in rural areas these trigger levels are never likely to be met assuming that their exchanges are even considered for this pre-registration set-up

One alternative available is satellite broadband, however one of the major constraints is cost both in terms of installation and monthly tariff costs. . In addition satellite connectivity can be affected by adverse weather condition and should the dish be displaced the signal can be affected or disrupted. A more significant problem is related to latency whereby there is an obvious signal delay due to the satellite communication to the end user.

The future of business broadband would appear to lie within the SME sector. There is not likely to be much uptake of such services within the large business sector for the reasons stated earlier. Clearly the principal disadvantages associated with broadband are contention ratios and the lack of nationwide coverage and subsequent exchanges, which are not likely to be enabled in the next few years particularly in rural locations. However the principal problem is associated with the prohibitive costs for BT to justify enable exchanges where there is little chance of reasonable uptake of these services and also the physical location in relation to the ADSL enabled BT exchange.

BT needs to work in conjunction with the government and ISP’s to find solutions to these problems. E-commerce needs to present clear business objectives to the government of the day to assist in this process and can play a significant role in promoting the obvious business advantages in deploying ISP broadband solutions particularly to the SME sector. Furthermore it needs to address the requirements of all business sectors and their geographical locations.

ISP’s are pivotal in the process of the expansion of broadband services. However there are a number of factors that they need to address. Unfortunately several of these problems are related to enabling of exchanges and are out of their jurisdiction. They are frequently accused of lacking customer focus and this needs to be addressed. In addition they can help to allay many of the fears that users in the business community have regarding Internet connectivity through better communication and consultation. In addition they can assist in this process by providing tailored solutions, which reflect those concerns. In conjunction with e-commerce they can promote the benefits of broadband to businesses and their increasing dependency on such solutions.

There are many challenges ahead for all these organisations but clearly there is an increasing need to provide the infrastructure to support e-commerce within all organisations. The government of the day needs to support these initiatives, as they are pivotal to the success of businesses and ultimately to the economy as a whole.

For more information and support on ADSL, please visit http://www.world-of-adsl.com.

By Paul McMichael, World of ADSL