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While all businesses now depend on
their broadband connection, there is a
growing diversity in the type of broadband
provision that best suits a company’s
needs. A ‘one size fits all’ approach is
simply not sophisticated enough to meet
the complex requirements of business
customers in the twenty-first century.With
the growth in cloud applications, there is
ever greater demand for reliable bandwidth
with low contention and jitter, so there is a need to match customer
requirements with a business class connectivity option.
Ethernet over Fibre is definitely the gold standard of high quality
internet connectivity and is something that every business that depends
on its internet connection should consider. Ethernet provides a dedicated
high speed, uncontended symmetrical bandwidth connection for internet
or site-to-site access. Ethernet is excellent for providing secure and stable
internet connections, making it the best solution for accessing data storage
services and applications in the cloud.
It has the advantage that it is much less expensive than using
conventional dedicated leased line circuits, while being more robust and
reliable than conventional DSL broadband connectivity designed for the
consumer market.
Multi-site links
Ethernet is ideal for linking multi-site operations because it uses the same
network technology as a local area network. Consequently, extending a
customer network to the wide area over Ethernet requires no additional
routers or IP addressing – it’s a ‘plug and play’ solution. This also makes
Ethernet comparatively cheap compared to other solutions for dedicated
internet access or WANs.
As well as fibre Ethernet, now available in many metropolitan areas,
Ethernet can be provided over copper cabling (termed EFM). This means
that Ethernet is available practically anywhere, although there is greater
bandwidth over fibre. Ethernet over fibre is available in flexible bandwidths
with 10Mb, 100Mb and 1Gb bearer circuit options and is priced from £280
a month. Ethernet over copper bandwidth options range from 2Mb to
20Mb, with prices starting at £159 a month.
For business continuity and disaster recovery, Ethernet installed over
fibre can be provided in three resilience formats (Standard, Protected and
Diversely Routed), depending on requirements. Alternatively, cost-effective
backup SDSL and ADSL circuits can be provided.
Ethernet is a terrific driver for business growth. To help businesses
make the most of it, Spitfire is taking part in the government-backed
‘SuperConnected Cities’ programme, which provides grants of up to £3,000
for business customer Ethernet installations in 22 cities across the UK.
For more information visit
by Tom Fellowes, Sales Director of
Spitfire Network Services
Reliable cloud
connectivity
from the ether
The Spitfire Communications Column
agenda
The connected consumer
New IPA TouchPoints5 data highlights our growing use of the
internet and digital technologies. Here we present some of the
key findings.
Being connected
n
54% of the total time we spend online each week is via a
laptop or desktop computer; 31% via a smart phone; 11% via a
tablet; 2% through a smart television; and 1% through a games
console.
n
29% of adults use a tablet each week, for an average of 52
minutes per day.
n
49% of adults use a mobile phone to do something other than
talk or text each week, for an average of 1 hour and 30 minutes
per day.
n
74% of adults use a desktop or laptop computer each week, for
an average 1 hour and 42 minutes per day.
n
Email is still the dominant online activity – over 80% of adults
email each week – followed by ‘browsing products and services’,
cited by over 70%.
Social networking
n
54% of adults use a social networking site each week, up from
44% in 2012. On average each user is connected for 9 hours and
56 minutes per week, up from 6 hours and 39 minutes in 2012.
Watching television
n
97% of consumers use a traditional TV set to watch TV over the
course of a week; 13% use a laptop/desktop; 8% use a TV with
an internet connection; 5% use a tablet; and 4% use a smart
phone.
n
Over half of all adults (54%) and three quarters (79%) of 15-
24s claim to double screen i.e. use the internet whilst they are
watching the television.
n
67% of adults access video on demand (VOD), up from 59% in
2012 and 46% in 2010. More than one third (38%) now use a
VOD service each week.
n
14% of all adults and 80% of 15-24s watch user-generated
online video content.
Reading
n
During the course of a week, 54% of adults read a printed
newspaper or magazine; 8% read on a laptop/desktop; 6% read
on a smart phone; and 4% read on a tablet.
n
33% of 15-24 year olds read a newspaper or magazine in print;
9% read on a laptop/desktop; 9% read on a smart phone; and
3% read on a tablet.
Listening to radio
n
During the course of a week, 75% of all adults listen to the radio
on a radio or TV set; 9% listen on a laptop/desktop; 9% listen on
a smart phone; and 4% listen on a tablet.
Smartphone apps
n
22% of adults use their smart phone to look for local deals,
offers and vouchers.
n
30% of adults use their smart phone to locate places using GPS.
n
8% of adults use their smart phone to read/scan QR codes.
n
4% of adults use their smart phone for augmented reality i.e.
enhanced engagement.
n
Only 6% of adults claim to have NFC (Near Field
Communication) on their phone: 26% don’t know if they do.
