Oftel business survey January 2003

Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction

Chapter 2 Summary findings

Main findings

Chapter 3 Use of fixed telecoms suppliers

Chapter 4 Satisfaction with fixed telecoms

Chapter 5 Internet access

Annex A Questionnaire

Chapter 1

Introduction

1.1 This report provides an overview of the key findings of business behaviour in the fixed telecoms services and Internet market in the Hull Area (see note one below) (‘Hull’). Results from previous waves of Oftel’s quarterly UK SME surveys are used for comparison purposes where appropriate and referred to throughout this report.

1.2 Telecommunications in Hull is unique within the United Kingdom. Kingston Communications (Hull) plc (‘Kingston’) is the incumbent local operator and provides local, national and international telecommunications services within Hull. Initially Hull was excluded from the area in which BT was licensed to run systems. After the 1998 review it was decided that this restriction on BT could be lifted, however BT did not pursue an amendment to its PTO licence.

1.3 The survey was conducted for Oftel by Continental Research amongst 300 SMEs (see note two below) within Hull during January 2003, The report has been prepared by Oftel (see note three below), based on the results provided by Continental Research.

1.4 The report covers:

• Use of fixed telecom suppliers;
• Use and awareness of IA and CPS;
• Use of ISDN lines; and
• Use of leased lines.
• Satisfaction with fixed services and leased lines;
  
• Internet penetration;
• Access methods, packages and ISPs used;
• Switching access method;
• Interest in unmetered access; and
• Awareness of alternative ISPs.

1.5 A copy of the questions is attached in annex A. Topics to be researched were requested by Oftel project teams and results feed into current investigations and reviews in individual market areas.

Notes:

1. The Hull Area is the area defined as the 'Licensed Area' in the licence granted on 30 November 1987 by the Secretary of State under section 7 of the Telecommunications Act 1984 to Kingston upon Hull City Council and Kingston Communications (Hull) plc.

2. The survey was conducted amongst a representative sample of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Hull, reflecting the Hull profile in terms of business size, sector and region. As small businesses (1-50 employees) make up around 95% of businesses in Hull, 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 Hull SMEs as a whole (95 % small businesses; 5% medium businesses), consequently the results for small businesses closely resemble those for SMEs as a whole. The error margin for this survey of 300 businesses is about 4-6% , but is higher amongst small subgroups. Results referred to as 'significantly' different, have been tested at the 95% level of confidence and hence are outside of the error margins and therefore can be considered real changes. 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.

3. The report should not be seen as recommended best buys and should not therefore be relied upon when making purchase decisions. Oftel has conducted its own checks on the data in this report and whilst we consider it to be correct, Oftel accepts no liability in respect of any of the results provided to it by Continental Research or any decisions taken by any person in reliance on the report.

Chapter 2

Summary findings

Headline figures

• 99% of businesses in Hull use Kingston Communications as their fixed line supplier;
• 19% claim to use an additional supplier;
• 23% of SMEs use ISDN lines, five % used leased lines;
• 95% are satisfied with their overall fixed line services;
• 67% of businesses have Internet access;
• 27% businesses with Internet use ISDN to connect, 7% use DSL;
• 52% of SMEs with Internet use unmetered packages; and
• 86% are satisfied with overall quality of Internet service.

Fixed market

Kingston Communications supply 99% of businesses in Hull with fixed telephony and overall satisfaction is comparable to the rest of the UK.

2.1 Satisfaction with overall fixed line services stands at a similar level in Hull to the rest of the UK (95% and 93% respectively). Businesses appear just as satisfied with the reliability of their fixed line service (96%) as the UK average (95%). SMEs in Hull are significantly more satisfied with the overall value for money of their service (92%) that the rest of the UK (77%).

Use of indirect access in Hull is similar to the UK.

2.2 13% use an indirect access (IA) supplier in Hull – broadly similar to the UK figure (16%). 6% of Hull’s businesses claimed to use an additional supplier that is accessed by dialling a freephone or local rate number to connect to their chosen alternative. Of those businesses not using these suppliers 16% claimed to be interested in doing so in the future.

Kingston Communications supply 9 in 10 leased lines to businesses in Hull. Use of and satisfaction with leased lines amongst businesses in Hull is broadly the same as the UK average.

2.3 5% of SMEs in Hull are currently using leased lines. Kingston Communications supply 9 out of 10 of these. The main reason given for choice of leased line supplier was the supplier being locally based – mentioned by a third of users.

2.4 The vast majority of leased line users had never changed supplier. Satisfaction with leased lines among businesses in Hull is broadly similar to the UK as a whole, with the exception of value for money where more businesses with leased lines in Hull are satisfied - 94% compared to 75% UK average.

Internet market

Internet penetration among businesses in Hull stands at 67% - level with UK penetration, a further 3% are in the process of connecting

2.5 Internet penetration stands level with the UK at 67% and satisfaction with overall Internet service is, again, level with the UK at 86% .

2.6 Methods used to connect to the Internet by businesses are broadly similar to the UK. However use of DSL/ cable modem amongst businesses in Hull is significantly higher in the UK as a whole (13%) compared to Hull (7%).

2.7 Just over half of businesses in Hull (52%) use an unmetered package. Excluding broadband, use of narrowband unmetered does not vary significantly in Hull compared to the UK (45% and 48% respectively). Half of SMEs using a metered Internet package were interested in upgrading to unmetered. The main reasons given for not currently using an unmetered package by businesses who were interested were no need (mentioned by one in five) and lack of supplier choice or availability (also mentioned by 1 in 5).

2.8 2 in 5 businesses with metered Internet access would prefer to use an alternative provider to Karoo (see note four below) if they were to switch to unmetered, 1 in 5 opted for Karoo and 2 in 5 expressed no preference.

The majority of businesses in Hull with Internet have never used an alternative connection method

2.9 84 % of Internet connected businesses have never switched access method. Of those currently using a broadband connection around 4 in 10 connected straight to the Internet using this method, 4 in 10 previously used a PSTN connection and the remainder upgraded from ISDN.

Karoo have a 44 % share of all ISPs used among businesses

2.10 The most used ISP amongst businesses is Karoo. AOL and Freeserve are the next most used. Various others are used to a lesser extent, which indicates that businesses using metered packages are making use of the choices available to them. 85% of businesses are aware of an alternative ISP offering service in their area. Almost 4 in 10 claimed to be aware of an alternative ISP to Karoo offering unmetered services.

4 in 10 businesses using an unmetered package claimed they were likely to switch to an alternative if other ISPs offered similar services

2.11 4 in 10 businesses using Karoo for an unmetered package claimed they were likely to switch to an alternative ISP if others started offering similar services, however 6 in 10 claimed that if they had been given a choice of ISP offering fully unmetered access they still would have chosen Karoo. Three quarters of those who indicated that they preferred Karoo said that this was because they were a local company.

Note:

4. Karoo is the brand name for Kingston Communications' ISP. Throughout the report Karoo are referred to as Karoo/Kingston. This includes all of those who claimed to use Kingston or Karoo as their ISP.

Main findings

Chapter 3

Use of fixed telecoms

Business’ use of fixed telecoms operators

3.1 Kingston Communications, their subsidiary Kingston inbusiness (formerly Torch), Cable and Wireless, BT and Energis are currently the only suppliers offering standard fixed telephony services to business consumers in Hull, as far as Oftel are aware. Before 1998 Kingston Communications were the exclusive provider. Almost all (99%) businesses in Hull use Kingston Communications for their fixed line telephone service, and 6% use Kingston inbusiness, in addition to Kingston Communications 1 in 10 (9% ) businesses named use an additional supplier to either Kingston Communications or Kingston inbusiness.

Fixed telecoms spend

3.2 The average monthly spend on fixed telecoms services (which includes call costs, rental, maintenance and VAT for all voice, fax, Internet and data services) amongst all SMEs in Hull for Aug/ Nov is £359. This ranges from an average £237 amongst small businesses to £2,512 amongst medium sized businesses. Average fixed spend in Hull is similar to the UK average of £333.

Use of Indirect Access and Carrier Pre Selection

3.3 Since 1998 a number of carrier pre selection (CPS) operators (see note five below) approached Kingston to consider offering service in Hull however none have commenced operation. Accordingly there are currently no CPS operators within the Hull area.

3.4 Currently 13% of businesses in Hull use an Indirect Access (IA) operator – broadly similar to the UK figure (16%). Carrier Pre Selection (CPS) suppliers are currently used by 11% of businesses in the UK. In Hull 5% of SMEs claim to be using CPS suppliers, however this type of supplier is currently not available to businesses in the Hull area. This equates to 15 businesses who may, for example, be using CPS suppliers at another site outside of the Hull area or may use least cost routing and be confusing this with CPS. 6% of businesses in Hull claimed to use an additional supplier whereby they dial a freephone or local rate number to connect to their chosen alternative. We do not have a corresponding figure for the UK. In total 1 in 5 (19%) businesses in Hull use an additional fixed line supplier, higher among medium sized businesses and those with ISDN lines, similarly to UK findings. Higher spending businesses and those connected to the Internet are amongst those most likely to be using an additional supplier. About two-thirds of these claim to be using some form of indirect access or carrier pre selection. 

Figure 3a: Hull SME business use of additional fixed suppliers, by business size and ISDN use
Base: Hull SMEs, Jan ’03 (Base: 334)

* base for ISDN30 users is 23 and ISDN2 users is 75 therefore caution should be applied to these results
** CPS suppliers are not currently active in the Hull area, though some businesses do claim to be using this method, perhaps at another site. See paragraph 3.4 for further discussion of this.

3.5 A quarter (26% ) of businesses using an additional supplier claim to use it for all types of calls, and 7 out of 10 use their additional supplier for at least 2 different call types. National calls are the most popular use of additional suppliers (60%), while around half as many (35%) use their supplier for international calls.

Figure 3b: Types of calls businesses using their additional operator for
Base: Hull SMEs using additional supplier, Jan ’03 (Base: *74) * small base so apply caution

3.6 Potential interest in using an additional supplier amongst those not currently doing so stands at 16% . Interest was highest amongst medium sized businesses (26%), higher monthly fixed spenders and ISDN30 users.

3.7 The main reason that businesses in Hull who were not interested in using either an IA operator or CPS supplier was satisfaction with current service (52%), similar to findings in the UK as a whole. Nearly 1 in 5 (16%) said that they don’t make enough calls generally, other reasons included no need, inconvenience and not knowing much about them, as shown in figure 3c

Figure 3c: Reasons not interested in using IA/CPS
Base: Hull SMEs not interested in using IA/CPS (Base: 209), Jan ’03

Use of ISDN lines

3.8 Around a quarter (23%) of businesses in Hull use ISDN lines. Medium sized businesses are significantly more likely to use ISDN (76%) than small businesses (20%), results are broadly similar to the UK as a whole as shown in figure 3d below. The slightly higher penetration of ISDN lines amongst businesses with Internet in Hull compared to the UK average is not statistically significant. 

Figure 3d: UK SME business ISDN line usage, by business size
Base: UK SME businesses, Nov ’02 (Base: 846), Hull SME businesses, Jan ’03 (Base: 334)

3.9 The majority of businesses with ISDN use low capacity ISDN2 lines (75%) while 17% use higher capacity ISDN30, the remainder were unsure. This equates to 18% of all businesses in Hull using ISDN2 lines and 4% using ISDN30. Similar to findings from the UK, medium sized businesses in Hull are more likely to use higher capacity ISDN lines than small businesses and also appear more likely to use more than one type of line. It is possible that this is for use in alternative premises.

Figure 3e: Capacity of ISDN lines being used
Base: Hull SME businesses with ISDN lines, Jan ’03 (Base: 110)

Note – Results total more than 100 % assome businesses were using more than one type of line

Use of leased lines

3.10 Currently 5% of businesses in Hull use leased lines, equal to the UK average. Similarly to the UK, medium businesses in Hull are more likely to used leased lines (23%) than small businesses (4%). About one in ten businesses using ISDN also use leased lines, this is slightly more apparent amongst users of higher capacity ISDN lines.

3.11 Kingston Communications/Kingston inbusiness supply the leased lines to 9 out of 10 users in Hull, one in ten claimed to have their lines supplied by BT and a similar proportion claimed to be supplied by someone else.

3.12 The main reason for choice of leased line supplier was the supplier’s location, ie locally based, mentioned by a third of users. Marginally less (three in ten) said they were not aware of an alternative or that there was no choice in their area. Various other reasons were given including perceptions of value for money and familiarity of using an existing supplier.

3.13 The vast majority of leased line users in Hull have never used an alternative supplier (over 9 in 10). The reasons given for not switching supplier included perceptions of current supplier as cheapest (mentioned by a quarter), not aware of alternatives (a quarter), inertia (nearly 1 in 5), general satisfaction with current supplier (1 in 10), too busy (1 in 20) or tied into contract (1 in 20).

Note:

5. Operators that consumers can access via their existing fixed line by telling the supplier in advance which types of calls they want to use them for. These calls will then automatically go through this supplier.

Chapter 4

Satisfaction with fixed telecoms

Satisfaction with fixed line supplier

4.1 Overall satisfaction with fixed telecoms services amongst business consumers in Hull (95%) is at a similar level to the UK (93 %). Similarly businesses appear just as satisfied with the reliability of their fixed line service (96%) as the UK average (95%). However, they are significantly more satisfied with the overall value for money from their service (92%) than the rest of the UK (77%), as shown in figure 4a below. Higher satisfaction with value for money was also found amongst residential consumers in Hull.

Figure 4a: % satisfied with aspects of fixed phone service
Base: Hull SMEs, Jan ‘03 (Base: 334, ‘don’t knows’ have been excluded) UK SMEs, Aug ’02 (Base: 1641 ‘don’t knows’ have been excluded)

Satisfaction with leased lines

4.2 On the whole satisfaction levels with leased lines amongst businesses in Hull are also broadly similar to the UK as a whole, again with the exception of value for money, as shown in figure 4b. SMEs in Hull using leased lines are significantly more satisfied with the value for money of their service than the UK average (94% and 75% respectively) – consistent with satisfaction with value for money with fixed services.

4.3 Generally UK businesses with leased lines are more satisfied with the choices available to them, significantly so for the choice of capacities available (100%) than businesses specifically in Hull using leased lines (8 in 10).

Figure 4b: % satisfied with various aspects of leased lines
Base: Hull SMEs with leased lines, Jan ’03 (Base: *27) UK SME businesses with leased lines, Nov ’02 (Base: 122), ‘don’t knows’ have been excluded

* small base so apply caution to results

Chapter 5

Internet access

Internet penetration

5.1 Current Internet penetration in the UK stands at 67% , 66% amongst small businesses and 96% amongst medium businesses. In Hull these figures are broadly similar – two thirds (67%) of businesses have Internet access – 65% of small and 92% of medium businesses – and a further 3% are in the process of connecting.

5.2 The majority of businesses currently not connected to the Internet in Hull say this is because they have no interest or no need for it (76%). Other reasons mentioned but to a lesser extent were that they were a new business (six%), lack of information (5%), too small (4%), not got around to it (4%), have it at home (4%) and 7% mentioned other reasons. Figures do not total 100% as responses were not mutually exclusive.

Access and connection methods

5.3 Cable is not available within Hull hence access via a cable modem is excluded from broadband access choices.

5.4 Methods used to connect to the Internet amongst business in Hull are broadly similar to the UK, as shown in figure 5a below. However, use of DSL/cable modems amongst businesses with Internet is significantly higher in the UK as a whole (13%) compared to Hull (7%).

Figure 5a: Internet access methods used by UK businesses
Base: Hull SME businesses with Internet access, Jan ’03 (Base: 244) UK businesses with Internet access, Aug/Nov ‘02 (Base: 1365)

Note: figures add to more than 100% as some businesses are using more than one access medium

Type of Internet package used

5.5 Just over half of businesses with Internet in Hull (52%) use an unmetered package – this includes those using broadband. The remainder use calls only packages (24%) or subscription and calls packages (24%) as shown in figure 5b. Significantly more businesses in Hull use a subscription and calls based package than the UK average (24% and 15% respectively), and significantly less have unmetered access.

Figure 5b: Main type of Internet package used by businesses
Base: Hull SME businesses with Internet, Jan ’03 (Base: 244), UK businesses with Internet access Aug/Nov ‘02 (Base: 1365) ‘don’t knows’ and ‘others’ have been excluded.

5.6 Generally users of each package by business size are similar in Hull to the UK as a whole. Medium businesses are slightly more likely to opt for an unmetered package (than small businesses).

Switching access method and package

5.7 The vast majority (84%) of businesses in Hull with Internet have never used an alternative connection method for their Internet access. Hull businesses are slightly more likely to have used an alternative connection than the rest of the UK (89% have never used an alternative connection type). As found in the UK, medium businesses are more likely than small to have used another method, 56% had never changed, compared to 87% of small businesses. As shown in figure 5c below, around 4 in 10 businesses in Hull using broadband via DSL or leased lines connected straight to the Internet with this connection, bearing in mind the small base sizes this is similar to the figure for the UK – 45% connected straight to broadband. Of the 6 in 10 who upgraded their connection three quarters upgraded from PSTN and a quarter from ISDN. A third of businesses with ISDN previously used a different connection method - all upgraded from PSTN.

Figure 5c: Previous connection method/package used
Base: Hull SME businesses with Internet using DSL/leased lines, Jan ’03

Interest in upgrading to unmetered Internet access

5.8 Half of businesses using metered Internet packages were interested in upgrading to an unmetered package (of any connection type). Small businesses were as interested in using unmetered Internet access as medium businesses.

5.9 Of the businesses interested in using an unmetered package for their Internet service, the main reasons for not doing so already were: no need until now (mentioned by 1 in 5) insufficient choice of suppliers/ lack of availability (1 in 5), expense (1 in 10).

5.10 2 in 5 businesses interested in getting unmetered access said they would prefer to use an alternative provider to Karoo if they were to switch package. 1in 5 opted for Karoo and around 2 in 5 said they had no preference.

ISPs used and awareness of alternatives

5.11 The most used ISP amongst businesses is Karoo/Kingston. AOL, Freeserve and Demon are the next most commonly used amongst businesses with Internet in Hull. Various other ISPs are used but to a lesser extent however, this does indicate that metered Internet users are making use of the choices available to them. As far as Oftel are aware the only ISPs offering narrowband unmetered Internet access to businesses are Karoo, Hull24 and Clever4.

Figure 5d: ISP share of businesses with Internet access (based on all ISPs used)
Base: All ISPs used in Hull SME businesses with Internet access Jan ‘03 (Base: 228, 4% ‘don’t knows’ have been excluded)

	Hull Jan ‘03	UK Nov ’02
Karoo/ Kingston Communications	44%	-
AOL	14%	13%
Freeserve	10%	16%
Demon Internet	7%	5%
Hull24/ Giacom	4%
BT	2%	31%
Virgin Net	2%	-
Trion	2%
Worldcom	-	8%
Tiscali (including Tiny Online and Lineone)	-	4%
MSN	-	2%
Others	15%	21%

( - shares of less than 2%, included in the ‘Other’ category)

5.12 In total, 85% of businesses with Internet in Hull are aware of an alternative ISP offering services in their area – 57% were able to name an alternative ISP. Awareness did not vary significantly according to business size.

5.13 4 in 10 Internet business customers in Hull were aware of an alternative ISP to Karoo offering unmetered services. Just under a third (29%) named another supplier.

Figure 5e: Awareness of other ISPs in Hull
Base: Hull SME businesses with Internet, Jan ’03 (Base: 244)

Interest in using alternative ISPs

5.14 About 4 in 10 (44%) businesses using an unmetered package claimed they were likely to switch to an alternative ISP if others started offering similar services.

5.15 3 in 5 businesses using Karoo for unmetered access claimed that had they been given a choice of ISP offering fully unmetered access, they still would have chosen Karoo. Around 1 in 5 said they had no supplier preference and 15% would have used an alternative to Karoo.

5.16 The locality of Karoo was the incentive for three-quarters of businesses for preferring to use Karoo, particularly smaller businesses. Good quality service, convenience of a single telecom supplier, familiarity, reliability and trustworthiness were other reasons given by businesses who preferred to use Karoo.

Satisfaction with Internet service

5.17 Satisfaction with overall Internet services in Hull is level with the UK at 86% . There are no significant differences between Hull and the rest of the UK on any of the measures. 

Figure 5f: Satisfaction with aspects of home Internet service
Base: Hull homes with Internet, Jan ‘03 (Base: 224, ‘don’t knows have been excluded)

* Based on those businesses which pay subscription/ call charges 

Annex A

Business questionnaire

Q3 To ensure we interview a wide cross section of businesses could you tell me which one of these bands the annual turnover or sales of your company falls into?  

Q4 And how many employees does your company employ in the UK?  

Q5 What is the approximate MONTHLY telecoms bill of your company for all your voice, fax, internet and data requirements. Please include all call costs, rental, maintenance costs and VAT. Please exclude any bills from mobile companies. 

Q6 Which of the following does your business use for its fixed line telephone services? Please include all you use but do not include mobile phone companies.

Kingston Communications
Torch or Kingston Inbusiness
BT
NTL
Telewest
Cable and Wireless
Colt
Energis
MCI Worldcom
Any other supplier(s) SPECIFY 

Q7 Does your company use any of these alternative telephone suppliers that offer telecoms services using your existing lines?

Q8 IF ANY SUPPLIERS USED AT Q7 ASK Q8 OTHERS GO TO Q9

You just mentioned that you use alternative suppliers for some or all of your calls. Which of the following call types does your company use these alternative suppliers for?

All calls (SINGLE CODE)
International
National
Local
Mobile calls
Internet calls or usage
Premium rate phone calls
Any other types of calls (specify)
DON'T KNOW

Q9 ASK IF DO NOT USE ANY ALTERNATIVE SUPPLIERS AT Q7 OTHERS GO TO Q11
How interested is your company in using any of these types of suppliers?

Very interested
Fairly interested
Not very interested
Not at all interested

Q10 ASK IF NOT INTERESTED IN USING AT Q9 OTHERS GO TO Q11
Why is your company not interested in using any of these suppliers?

Q11 ASK ALL
Thinking about all your fixed line telecoms services and suppliers, are you satisfied with them on the following attributes? Firstly . READ OUT FIRST STATEMENT

REPEAT FOR REMAINING STATEMENTS

Q12 ASK ALL
Does your company use ISDN lines for any of its fixed line telephone services?

Q13 ASK ALL USING ISDN AT Q12 OTHERS GO TO Q14
Can you tell me what type of ISDN lines you use? Are they low capacity ISDN 2 lines with 2 channels, or high capacity ISDN 30 lines with up to 30 channels?

Low - ISDN 2 with 2 channels
High - ISDN 30 with up to 30 channels

Q14 ASK ALL

Do you have any leased lines? IF NECESSARY These are dedicated communication lines between two specific points or premises which are permanently connected. You pay a one-off charge to rent them, and receive unlimited voice and data usage. 

Q15 ASK ALL USING LEASED LINES AT Q14 OTHERS GO TO Q23

Which company supplies your leased lines?

Kingston Communications
Torch/Kingston Inbusiness
BT
NTL
Telewest
Cable and Wireless
Colt
Energis
MCI Worldcom
Any other supplier (Specify)

Q16 ASK ALL WITH LEASED LINES AT Q14
Why did you choose this company to supply your leased lines?

Q17 ASK ALL WITH LEASED LINES AT Q14
How satisfied are you with the following aspects of your leased lines service? FIRST ASPECT Are you very, fairly, not very or not at all satisfied?

What about...REPEAT FOR EACH

Q18 ASK ALL WITH LEASED LINES AT Q14
Have you ever used a different company for your leased line services?

Q19 ASK ALL USED A DIFFERENT LEASED LINE SUPPLIER (CODE 1 AT Q18).
Why did you switch leased lines supplier? PROBE FULLY Why else?

Q20 ASK ALL USING DIFFERENT LEASED SUPPLIER (CODE 1 AT Q18
How satisfied were you with the process of switching leased line supplier

Very satisfied
Fairly satisfied
Not very satisfied
Not at all satisfied

Q21 ASK ALL NOT SATISFIED AT Q20 OTHERS SEE Q22
Why were you not satisfied with the process of switching leased line supplier? PROBE FULLY Why else?

Q22 ASK ALL NOT USED A DIFFERENT LEASED LINE SUPPLIER (CODE 2 AT Q18).
Why have you not switched leased lines supplier? PROBE FULLY Why else?

Q23 ASK ALL
Moving on now to the Internet. Is your company connected to the Internet or in the process of connecting to the Internet?

Yes connected
Yes in process of connecting
No not connected/not in process of connecting
Don't know 

Q24 ASK IF NOT CONNECTED TO INTERNET CODE 3 AT Q23
Why is your company not connected to the Internet?

Q25 ASK ALL CONNECTED TO INTERNET CODE 1 AT Q23 OTHERS GO TO CLOSE
Which of the following does your company use to connect to the Internet?

Ordinary phone line/dial up access
BT Highway
ISDN line
High speed access via DSL - always on, unmetered access, faster than an ordinary phone line, which enables you to make voice calls at the same time as using the Internet
Leased line
Fixed access delivered by radio
Satellite
Other

Q26 ASK ALL CONNECTED TO INTERNET CODE 1 AT Q23
Has your company ever used a different method of connecting to the Internet?

Q27 ASK ALL USING DIFFERENT METHOD AT Q26 OTHERS GO TO Q28

What type of connection did your company previously use?

Ordinary phone line/dial up access
BT Highway
ISDN line
High speed access via DSL - always on, unmetered access, faster than an ordinary phone line, which enables you to make voice calls at the same time as using the Internet
Leased line
High speed access via cable modem - always on unmetered access, offering various access speeds, faster than an ordinary phone line, which enables you to make voice calls at the same time as using the Internet
Fixed access delivered by radio
Satellite
Other

Q28 ASK OF ALL CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET (CODE 1 AT Q23)
Thinking about the main ISP that your business uses for the Internet, do you have to pay a subscription fee for the package provided? This might include free usage time, and normally is paid on a monthly or annual basis.

Q29 IF PAY SUBSCRIPTION (CODE 1 AT Q28) ASK "In addition to the subscription fee, do you ever pay any "per minute" call charges for the time your business spends online?

IF DO NOT PAY SUBSCRIPTION (CODE 2 OR 3 AT Q28) ASK "And do you ever pay any "per minute" call charges for the time your business spends online?

Would you say you..

Pay per minute call charges for all the time you are online
Pay per minute call charges for some but not all of the time you are online
Pay no per minute call charges for being online

Q30 ASK ALL CONNECTED TO INTERNET. (CODE 1 AT Q23)

Which ISP's do you use to access the Internet? READ OUT IF NECESSARY (MULTICODE)

AOL
BT
Karoo/Kingston Communications
Demon Internet
Tiscali/ LineOne/ TinyOnline
Cable & Wireless
Compuserve
Freeserve
MSN (Microsoft Network)
Netscape
NTL
Telewest/ Blueyonder
Virgin Net
Other (specify)

Q31 ASK ALL CONNECTED TO INTERNET (CODE 1 AT Q23)
Is your company aware of other Internet Service Providers offering a service in your area? IF YES PROBE Which ones? SINGLE CODE

Yes - know of named supplier
Yes - but not able to name any
No - don't know of others

Q32 ASK OF THOSE AWARE OF OTHER ISP (CHECK Q31 CODES 1 AND 2)
Other than Karoo/Kingston do you know whether any of these ISPs offer unmetered Internet access in your company's area, i.e. you pay a set fee which allows unlimited Internet usage for some or all of the time spent online?

IF YES PROBE Which ISPs do you know offers unmetered Internet access to businesses?

Q33 ASK ALL USING KAROO/KINGSTON COMMUNICATIONS (CHECK Q30) FOR FULLY UNMETERED ACCCESS (CHECK Q29 CODES 3)
If other suppliers started offering similar Internet access packages to the one you currently use, how likely would you be to consider switching supplier?

Very likely
Fairly likely
Not very likely
Not at all likely

Q34 ASK ALL USING KAROO/KINGSTON COMMUNICATIONS (CHECK Q30) FOR FULLY UNMETERED ACCCESS (CHECK Q29 CODES 3)
Thinking back to when your company chose your Internet Service Provider. If another Internet service provider had offered an identical package at the same price to the one you currently take from Karoo/Kingston, which would your company have preferred to use?

Karoo/Kingston Communications
Another ISP
No preference

Q35 IF PREFER KAROO/KINGSTON AT Q34
Why would your company have selected Karoo or Kingston rather than another supplier?

Q36 ASK IF USE METERED PACKAGE (CHECK Q29 CODE 1)
How interested is your company in getting unmetered Internet access where you pay a set monthly or quarterly fee which allows unlimited usage and you do not pay per minute charges for any of the time spent online?

Very interested
Fairly interested
Not very interested
Not at all interested

Q37 IF INTERESTED AT Q36 OTHERS GO TO Q39
Why doesn't your company currently have unmetered Internet access?

Q38 ASK IF INTERESTED AT Q36
If your company were to get unmetered access would you prefer to use Kingston/Karoo or another ISP? SINGLE CODE

Karoo/Kingston
Another ISP
No preference

Q39 ASK ALL CONNECTED TO INTERNET CODE 1 AT Q23

Overall are you satisfied with the following aspects of Internet use? READ OUT FIRST ATTRIBUTE THEN REPEAT FOR REMAINING STATEMENTS