Ref: 10/02
Date: 11 February 2002

New research from Oftel published today shows that 63 per cent of small and medium sized businesses are now online, an increase from 55 per cent in May 2001.

Almost two in three small and medium sized businesses now also use a mobile phone, a figure that has been steadily increasing for the past six months.

Carried out during November 2001, the research also revealed that 36 per cent of all SMEs use more than one fixed telecoms supplier and one in three SMEs use an unmetered Internet access package.

And over one third of medium businesses are now using leased lines.

Commenting on these findings, Peter Waller, Director of Operations at Oftel, said today:

"Oftel's new research shows that the take up of telecoms services by UK businesses continues to rise. Over 60 per cent of small and medium sized businesses are connected to the Internet.

"Almost three in five medium size businesses now connect to the Internet using an alternative to the traditional telephone network, such as cable modems and DSL.

"Although small and medium sized businesses' expenditure on telecoms services is relatively small compared to their annual turnover, it is still important that they are able to make well-informed purchasing decisions.

"Sources such as the website www.telecomsadvice.org.uk continue to provide important information which can help businesses make the right telecoms choice for them."

Notes to Editors

1. Three research reports have been published today by Oftel and are available of Oftel's website at:

Business use of mobile telephony, www.oftel.gov.uk/publications/research/2002/q7mobb0202.htm

Business use of fixed telephony, www.oftel.gov.uk/publications/research/2002/q7fixb0202.htm

Business use of Internet, www.oftel.gov.uk/publications/research/2002/q7intb0202.htm

Hard copies are available to the media from Oftel's Press Office on 020 7634 8991 and to the public from Oftel's Research and Information Unit on 020 7634 8761.

2. The survey was conducted amongst a representative sample of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the UK, reflecting the UK profile in terms of business size, sector and region. As small businesses (1-50 employees) make up around 97% of businesses in the UK, medium businesses (51-250 employees) were over-sampled in the survey to produce a sufficiently robust sample to allow analysis of the results among medium businesses. The combined results were re-weighted to be representative of UK SMEs as a whole (97% small businesses; 3% medium businesses), consequently the results for small businesses closely resemble those for SMEs as a whole. The error margin for this survey of 815 businesses is about 2-4%, but is higher amongst small subgroups. All data shown is weighted data. Unweighted base sizes are shown on charts and tables to show the number of businesses who were asked the question.