Contents

Chapter 1 – Introduction

Chapter 2 – Summary

Chapter 3 – Main findings

Chapter 4 – Use of fixed telecoms suppliers

Chapter 5 – Use and awareness of additional fixed suppliers

Chapter 6 – ISDN usage

Chapter 7 – Use of leased lines

Chapter 8 – Awareness of fixed number mobility and importance of retaining numbers

Chapter 9 – Awareness of information sources on telephone companies

Annex A – Q11 business questions on fixed telephony

Chapter 1

Introduction

1.1 This report provides an overview of the key findings of business behaviour in the fixed telecoms market, taken from the eleventh wave of Oftel’s quarterly business survey, conducted in November 2002 amongst 846 UK businesses. The results are subject to an error margin of about 2-4%, and this is slightly higher amongst smaller subgroups. Results referred to as 'significantly' different, have been tested at the 95% level of confidence, please see footnote for further sample details (see note one below).

1.2 Quotas and weighting were applied to small and medium businesses separately so that the sample was representative of SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) in the UK in terms of business size, industry sector and region.

1.3 In some cases throughout the report, data on a rolling basis is shown. This combining of two periods increases the sample size and allows trends in the data to be analysed and interpreted with greater confidence. For example, where identical questions have been asked over the past two waves (August and November 2002), combined data have been used.

1.4 In addition two ad-hoc surveys were conducted for Oftel by Continental Research amongst 200 UK SMEs during October 2002 amongst 200 (see note two below) UK SMEs currently using a cable supplier for their fixed telecoms services with a BT originated number during November ‘02.

1.5 The survey was conducted on behalf of Oftel by Continental Research during November 2002. This report has been prepared by Continental Research based on the results (see note three below).

1.6 The report covers:

• fixed line telecoms spend;
• suppliers used;
• ISDN usage;
• leased line usage;
• awareness of telecom advice websites;
• use of email instead of fixed voice calls;
• awareness of fixed number portability and mobility;
• use and awareness of Indirect Access and Carrier Pre Selection; and
• awareness of Oftel PASS seal of approval.

1.7 A copy of the questions is attached in Annex A. Topics to be researched each quarter are requested by Oftel project teams, and results feed into current investigations and reviews in individual market areas.

Notes:

1. 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 846 businesses is about 2-4%, 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.

2. The error margin for this survey of 200 businesses is about 4-6%, and higher amongst smaller sub groups. 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 or any decisions taken by any person in reliance on the report.

Chapter 2

Summary findings

Headline figures

• Average monthly fixed telecoms spend: small - £250, medium - £3,287;
• Overall satisfaction with fixed telecoms services - 93%;
• 18% of SMEs use ISDN lines;
• 5% of SMEs use leased lines;
• Around 9 out of 10 businesses (87%) are aware of CPS or IA; and
• 1 in 5 (17%) businesses have switched fixed supplier.

Little change in overall fixed line market since last quarter

2.1 Average spend remains broadly unchanged at £333, small businesses continue to spend more per employee (£36) than medium (£28). Little change in suppliers used: medium businesses continue to be more likely to use other suppliers in addition or as an alternative to BT (34%) than small businesses (15%).

1 in 5 ISDN users aware of a specific alternative supplier of ISDN services in their area and customers are as satisfied with their ISDN services as with their telephone service overall

2.2 18% of businesses use ISDN lines, usage is significantly higher amongst those with Internet access (27%) compared to those without (2%). Low capacity ISDN lines with up to 2 channels (ISDN2) are most popular, currently used by 63% of SME’s compared to 23% using high capacity lines. Medium businesses are more likely than small businesses to use the higher capacity lines. Overall, 1 in 5 businesses were aware of a specific supplier, other than their current one, in their area offering ISDN services.

2.3 6% of ISDN users have ever changed their supplier. Businesses using ISDN30 lines were more likely to have switched (12%) than ISDN2 users (5%). The main reasons for not switching were, simply no need or not interested, satisfaction with current supplier/service. 1 in 5 (18%) claimed not to have switched because they were not aware of a choice of supplier in their area.

2.4 Satisfaction with ISDN services is broadly similar to overall fixed line satisfaction (93%) and similarly slightly higher amongst small businesses than medium businesses. However, ISDN users are significantly less satisfied with the value for money of their service (70%) compared to satisfaction amongst all fixed line customers (77%).

1 in 10 leased line users have switched supplier and similar proportion switched type of line – main reason for not switching is satisfaction with current supplier

2.5 5% of SMEs use leased lines – medium businesses are significantly more likely to use them (31%) than small businesses (5%). The majority of these businesses use BT to supply the lines, mainly because BT already supplies them with other telecoms services. Other reasons included most reliable company, best value for money, and historical reasons. 1 in 10 (9%) stated they were not aware of an alternative.

2.6 Around 1 in 10 (12%) leased line users had switched supplier with reasons ranging from unhappiness with the service, obtaining a cheaper deal, wanting a single account. The main reason for 88% not having switched leased line supplier was satisfaction with current supplier – however, 10% said they were not aware of an alternative.

2.7 Digital lines, in particular those with up to 2Mb/s, are more popular than analogue. SMEs are most likely to use their leased lines for data services (58%), rather than voice calls (20%). Around 1 in 5 (21%) use them for both.

2.8 Around 1 in 10 businesses using leased lines had previously used a different type of line – with the majority upgrading to faster speeds or capacity. The main reason for not switching type of leased line was satisfaction with current service. This is consistent with the high levels of satisfaction amongst leased line users - almost all leased line users are satisfied with their service (99%).

Use of CPS is broadly similar to use of IA, which appears to have fallen over the last year

2.9 The majority of businesses (87%) are aware of either Indirect Access (IA) of Carrier Pre-Selection (CPS) suppliers, however awareness of IA is more than twice that of CPS, 84% and 34% respectively. 16% currently use IA and 11% claim to use CPS. Use of IA appears to have fallen over the past 12 months from 25% in Nov ’01, perhaps as a result of IA customers switching to CPS. Half of IA users did not experience any problems with the switching/usage process compared to two-thirds of those using CPS. It appears that by removing the need for additional equipment or an access code CPS has removed some problems surrounding the switching/usage process.

Switching in the business fixed market is in line with residential fixed telephony and energy markets

2.10 Around 1 in 5 businesses have ever switched fixed line supplier. This figure increases to 2 in 5 when including those currently using IA or CPS but who did not consider use of their additional supplier to be a switch. This brings switching in line with that in the residential fixed telephony (38%) and energy markets (40%).

Less than 1% of businesses would be affected by inability to move and port their BT originated cable telephone numbers

2.11 A third of businesses currently using a cable operator for their fixed line services but with numbers ported from BT are aware that they are currently unlikely to be able to retain their fixed line numbers if they were to move premises (31%). The majority (83%) said it would be important for their business to be able to retain these numbers.

2.12 Around 5% of businesses currently using a cable operator for their fixed line services with a BT ported number say they are likely to move premises in the next three years and revert to BT within this time – therefore, the inability to port would be an issue for them. However, this is likely to equate to less than 1% of all SMEs in the UK.

2.13 In comparison, a similar proportion of residential consumers (6%) using cable with BT originated numbers think it likely that they will both move home and revert to BT within the next 3 years – again this equates to less than 1% of all residential consumers in the UK.

Awareness of Oftel PASS scheme broadly in line with awareness of information and performance comparisons of fixed telephony

2.14 Approximately 1 in 10 SMEs are aware of the Telecoms Advice website, which provides advice and information on telecoms services to businesses. A similar proportion (9%) are aware of the Comparable Performance Indicators, quality of service information produced by the industry comparing the performance of telecoms companies, and 11% were aware of other websites which compare the price of different telecoms companies. Awareness of the Oftel PASS scheme – a seal of approval for websites which compare the prices of different suppliers stands at 8%, broadly similar to that amongst residential consumers (6%).

 Main findings

Chapter 3

Business use of fixed telephony

Fixed telecoms spend

3.1 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 for Aug/ Nov is £333. This ranges from an average £250 amongst small businesses to £3,287 amongst medium businesses. Figure 3a shows the spread of monthly business spends and figure 3b shows the trend over time.

3.2 Monthly spend amongst companies connected to the Internet has also dropped slightly from £499 at the last wave to £446 in Aug/Nov.

Figure 3a: Spread of business monthly spend on fixed telecoms services

Base: UK SME businesses, Aug/Nov ‘02 (Base: 1,677)

3.3 As shown in figure 3b, the average amount spent on telecoms remains consistent within the £300 to £400 mark. This quarters spend is very close to what it was at this point last year, and the higher spend reported in May ’01 and May ’02 may be seasonal. Please note though that spend has not changed significantly since August ’01 and these fluctuations are likely to be related to the nature of asking businesses to estimate this type of information. Oftel will continue to monitor business fixed spend to establish whether seasonal variations are a contributory factor.

Figure 3b: Average spend on fixed telecoms services

Base: UK SME businesses, Aug/ Nov ’02 (Base: 1677, ‘don’t knows’ have been excluded)

* combined data from two waves used to calculate average monthly spend - see 1.3

3.4 Average spend levels by business size, per employee, and as a proportion of businesses’ annual turnover, are shown in figure 3c.

3.5 As reported in previous quarters, small businesses spend more on fixed telecoms services per employee than medium businesses.

3.6 Amongst all SMEs, annual spend on fixed telecoms services accounts for less than 1% of annual turnover. There is no difference between small and medium businesses, at 0.4%.

Figure 3c: Average monthly spend on fixed telecoms services, by business size

Base: UK SME businesses, Aug/ Nov ’02 (Base: 1677, ‘don’t knows’ have been excluded)

Chapter 4

Use of fixed telecoms suppliers

4.1 Overall 91% of SMEs use BT for some or all of their fixed telecoms services. As shown in figure 4a use of BT has remained stable for at least the last 12 months. Use of cable also remains broadly similar to recent months, while use of other operators has fallen significantly from 20% to 16%. This fall is consistent with the fall in use of indirect access (IA). Use and awareness of IA and carrier pre-selection (CPS) are discussed in more detail in Chapter 5.

Figure 4a: UK SME business use of fixed telecoms suppliers

Base: UK SME businesses, Aug/Nov ‘02 (Base: 1677)

4.2 Medium businesses are more than twice as likely as small businesses to use suppliers other than BT or cable (34% and 15% respectively) – similar findings were observed in previous waves.

General switching behaviour

4.3 Almost 1 in 5 businesses have ever changed their fixed line supplier (17%) - 6% in the last 12 months and 11% longer ago, slightly lower than reported in May ’02 (21%), however this may be partly due to a slightly different sample.

4.4 Previous research shows that medium sized businesses are more likely to switch their fixed line supplier than small businesses.

4.5 The actual proportion of businesses ever having switched fixed supplier increases to 40% when including those currently using IA or CPS but who did not consider use of their alternative supplier to be a switch. This figure is broadly in line with switching in the residential fixed telecoms (38%) and energy markets (40%).

4.6 It appears that many businesses are not switching fixed supplier simply because they are satisfied or feel there is no need. However some of these businesses also mentioned various barriers. In total around 3 in 10 businesses who have never switched mentioned barriers including perceptions of too much hassle, insufficient savings, unaware of alternatives, as shown in figure 4b below.

Figure 4b: Reasons for not using alternative fixed supplier

Base: UK SMEs never switched, Oct ’01 (Base: 160)

4.7 Of those businesses that have switched the vast majority (86%) said they did not experience any problems with the process and a further 3%, did not know or could not remember. The only problems mentioned by businesses that had switched were problems with the line/service not working (9%) or errors in the initial bill (2%).

Comparing fixed telecoms suppliers

4.8 Businesses were asked how easy it was to find out about or compare various aspects of alternative fixed line services and suppliers. Overall, at least half found each aspect easy. The aspect businesses found easiest was establishing which services are offered by various fixed telecoms suppliers – however, around a third (32%) said this was not easy. This has shown little improvement since May ’00 when 26% of businesses said this aspect was difficult to establish.

Figure 4c: Ease of comparing fixed suppliers on different aspects of service

Base: UK SMEs, Oct ’02 (Base: 200, don’t knows have been excluded)

NB. Columns may not total 100% exactly due to rounding

4.9 Comparing the prices and packages offered by different suppliers was not considered difficult by 42% of businesses – the comparable figure in May ’00 was 54%. Establishing the availability of alternatives within specific areas and comparing quality of service aspects were considered least easy by businesses – with 46% and 51% respectively finding these aspects not very or not at all easy.

4.10 Whilst the ease of comparing quality of services aspects remains broadly similar to that reported in May ’00 (48% found this difficult), establishing the availability of alternatives in certain areas appears to have become more difficult for businesses over time – 24% found this difficult in May ’00.

4.11 Generally businesses who use an alternative or additional supplier to BT and those who have previously switched fixed supplier are amongst those that find each aspect easy to compare or find out about. Perhaps as they are also most likely to have actively used or looked for this information when choosing their current supplier. Around 3 in 10 businesses stated that they did not know how easy it was to compare quality of service aspects – this is likely to be because they have never used or looked for this type of information.

 Chapter 5

Use and awareness of additional fixed suppliers

5.1 Currently 84% of UK SMEs are aware of Indirect Access (IA) operators. There has been little change in this figure since Aug ’01 (85%). Previous research shows medium sized businesses are more likely to be aware of IA services than small businesses. A quarter (26%) of SMEs that use an Indirect Access operator over their ISDN line. Medium companies are significantly more likely to do so (43%) than small companies (23%).

5.2 Whilst awareness of IA remains unchanged, usage appears to have fallen. Currently 16% of all SMEs use an IA operator for their fixed line services -compared to 27% in Nov ‘01. Whilst this may be partly due to a slightly smaller sample (and hence wider error margins), the rising proportion of those having used IA previously (24% compared to 12% in Nov ’01) suggests that some businesses have stopped using IA services during the past year. Various problems encountered with switching to and using IA are reported in paragraph 5.8 onwards and provide some explanation of why some businesses have stopped using these suppliers, it is also possible that some may have switched to using CPS.

Figure 5a: Awareness and use of IA and CPS

Base: UK SMEs, Oct ’02 (Base: 200, don’t knows have been excluded)

NB. Cloumns may not total 100% exactly due to rounding

5.3 Another alternative to BT, cable and IA is Carrier Pre-Selection (CPS). Similarly to IA these suppliers use your existing lines but instead of dialling a code or using additional equipment to use their services you arrange in advance which type of calls you wish to use them for.

5.4 As shown above awareness of CPS is significantly lower than for IA, with one third of UK SMEs aware of these services. This is likely to be due to the relatively recent introduction of CPS (2000/2001) compared to IA services. However, use of CPS amongst UK SMEs, while being slightly lower than for IA, is not significantly different - 11% compared to 16%.

5.5 CPS appears to be more popular amongst businesses than residential consumers. Although awareness is broadly similar across both consumer types usage is significantly higher amongst UK SMEs, (3% residential consumers claim to use CPS).

5.6 The chart below shows the comparison of awareness of each type of supplier and the types of businesses currently aware of and using each. In total almost 9 out of 10 businesses (87%) are aware of at least one of these alternatives and a third (32%) are aware of both. Users of each alternative are broadly similar.

Figure 5b: Awareness and use of IA and CPS

Base: UK SMEs, Oct ’02 (Base: 200)

5.7 Satisfaction with current supplier is the most common reason for not using either IA or CPS, as shown in figure 5c.

Figure 5c: Reasons for not using IA/CPS

Base: UK SME’s aware but not currently using, Oct ’02

* small base size so apply caution to results

5.8 Around half of current or former users of IA or CPS claim not to have experienced any problems when switching to or using their respective supplier –(54% IA and 67% CPS). A further 5% of IA customers did not know or could not remember.

5.9 The main problem area when switching to or using an additional supplier was with the equipment required to use Indirect Access operators. The majority of businesses claiming to have encountered problems when switching to IA are those who have stopped using the service.

5.10 Similarly to residential customers, those switching to or using CPS reported fewer problems than switching to IA. Perhaps by removing the need for additional equipment or an access code, CPS appears to have reduced problems with the process, evident for IA.

Chapter 6

ISDN usage

6.1 18% of SMEs use ISDN lines for any of their fixed line telephone services. Medium sized companies are significantly more likely to do so than small companies (see figure 6a). Over a quarter (27%) of companies connected to the Internet have an ISDN line, compared to just 2% of companies not connected.

Figure 6a: UK SME business ISDN line usage, by business size

Base: UK SME businesses, Nov ’02 (Base: 846)

ISDN lines used

6.2 Smaller companies are more likely to use low capacity lines with 2 channels (64%), compared to just over half (52%) of medium companies. Medium sized companies are more likely to use high capacity lines with up to 30 channels (59%) than small companies (18%).

Figure 6b: Type of ISDN lines used by UK SMEs

Base: UK SME businesses using ISDN lines, Nov ’02 (Base: 367)

6.3 Of those companies that use ISDN 30 lines, they use or pay for an average 11 lines. Amongst medium businesses this figure is higher at 18, and amongst small businesses it is 9. Satisfaction with various attributes of ISDN services according to the capacity of line being used is discussed in paragraph 6.9.

ISDN suppliers

6.4 SMEs were asked which ISDN suppliers they were spontaneously aware of in their area. BT is the ISDN supplier with the highest spontaneous awareness (68%).ntl are a distant second with 9%, followed by Telewest (7%) and Cable and Wireless (4%). No other company received more than 1%.

Figure 6c: Awareness of ISDN suppliers in business’ area, unprompted

Base: UK SME businesses using ISDN lines, Nov ’02 (Base: 367)

*all others mentioned by 1% or less

6.6 1 in 5 businesses (21%) were aware of a supplier, other than the one they currently use, in their area offering ISDN services. Awareness did not vary significantly according to business size.

Switching ISDN suppliers

6.7 6% of businesses using ISDN have ever changed their ISDN supplier. There were no significant differences between small and medium companies. Companies with ISDN30 lines were more likely to have switched (12%) than those with ISDN2 lines (5%).

6.8 The main reason given by those not switching was simply that there was no need to change (30%), with a further 6% stating they were not interested in changing (see figure 5e). 16% were satisfied with the cost from their current supplier, and 8% were satisfied with their current service. 18% weren’t aware of a choice of supplier in their area. Others reasons included "too difficult to work out which is cheaper", "company policy" and "never thought about it" (all 1%). There were no significant differences between small and medium companies.

Figure 6d: Reasons for not switching ISDN supplier

Base: ISDN users that have never switched supplier, Nov ‘02 (Base: 328)

Satisfaction with ISDN lines and suppliers

6.9 Overall satisfaction with ISDN services was as high as satisfaction with general telecoms services overall amongst businesses as shown in figure 6e. However, ISDN users are significantly less satisfied than average with the value for money of their ISDN services (70% and 77% respectively). This lower level of satisfaction is driven mainly by small businesses, 69% satisfied with this aspect compared to 76% amongst medium sized businesses and may be linked to the higher costs of ISDN services compared to standard fixed line services.

6.10 Similarly to average overall satisfaction with fixed line services small businesses are slightly (but not significantly) more satisfied (94%) with their ISDN service than medium sized businesses (89%), as shown in figure 6e.

6.11 There were no significant differences in levels of satisfaction with these various attributes according to the capacity of ISDN line being used.

Figure 6e % SME businesses satisfied with various aspects of their fixed telecoms services/ SME ISDN users satisfied with ISDN lines/ suppliers

Base: UK SME businesses, May/Aug ’02 (Base: 1641), UK SME ISDN users (Base: 367) ,‘don’t knows’ have been excluded.

Chapter 7

Usage of leased lines

Leased lines penetration

7.1 5% of SMEs use leased lines. Medium companies are significantly more likely to do so (31%) than small companies (5%), little change since November ’01.

7.2 Overall, digital lines are more popular than analogue lines, with a third of the companies using digital, and 21% using analogue (see figure 7a). The popularity of digital lines is particularly noticeable amongst medium sized companies.

Figure 7a: Types of leased lines used

Base: All SMEs using leased lines, Nov ’02

	All SMEs (Base: 126)	Small (Base: 33*)	Medium (Base: 93)
Analogue	21%	20%	26%
Digital up to 2 Mb/s	26%	18%	61%
Digital over 2 Mb/s	7%	7%	11%
Digital (net)	33%	25%	69%

*NB small base size, so results should be viewed with caution

Reasons for choice of type of line

7.3 The most common reason for selecting analogue rather than digital was that this was the only type available (36%) however, caution should be applied as this is based on responses from only 25 businesses using leased lines. In comparison, the main reason for choosing digital rather than analogue leased lines was for the increased speeds (32%) or capacity (8%).

7.4 11% of SMEs with leased lines have previously used a different type of leased line, this include both those who upgraded and downgraded their leased lines.

7.5 Leased line users were asked if they would consider replacing their existing lines with any other type of line that they had not used before. Overall, 15% would consider switching to a different type of leased line. 5% of digital customers would consider switching to analogue, 7% of leased line customers would consider switching to digital lines up to 2Mb/s and 10% would consider upgrading to digital over 2Mb/s.

Figure 7b: Consideration of different types of leased line

Base: All leased line users who have never used that particular type of leased line Nov ’02,

Would you consider replacing your existing leased line(s) with….
	Yes	No	Don’t Know
Analogue leased lines (Base: 74*)	5%	66%	29%
Digital leased lines up to 2 Mb/s (Base: 50*)	7%	40%	52%
Digital leased lines over 2 Mb/s (Base: 94*)	10%	41%	49%

* NB small base size, so results should be viewed with caution

Reasons for and against changing leased lines

7.6 The most common reason for companies considering replacing their existing leased lines with another type is to obtain faster speeds and greater capacity. Other reasons include because they don't need as much capacity (amongst those that would consider downgrading their capacity, and better value for money.

7.7 Amongst those companies that said they would not consider switching leased line capacity, the most common reason (mentioned by around half of these companies) was satisfaction with their current lines. Other reasons include satisfaction with their current speeds and capacity, lack of perceived benefits in switching, and perceptions of value for money.

Type of calls made with leased lines

7.8 SMEs are more likely to use their leased lines for data services than voice calls, as can be seen in figure 7c. This is particularly true for medium sized companies (but please note the base size for the small company sample).

Figure 7c: Primary use of leased lines

Base: All SMEs using leased lines, Nov ’02

	All SMEs (Base: 126)	Small (Base: 33*)	Medium (Base: 93*)
Voice calls	20%	23%	6%
Data services	58%	56%	65%
Both	21%	19%	28%

*NB small base size, so results should be viewed with caution

Leased line suppliers

7.9 BT was by far the most widely used supplier of leased lines amongst SMEs (see figure 7d). There were no significant differences between small and medium companies in the supplier used. Penetration of BT as a supplier of leased lines was lower than average amongst those using digital lines (68%).

Figure 7d: UK SME business use of leased line suppliers

Base: UK SME businesses using leased lines, Nov ‘02 (Base: 126)

Reasons for choice of supplier

7.10 The main reason SMEs chose their particular supplier of leased lines was because that company already supplies other telecom services to them (29% stated this). This reason was significantly more prevalent amongst small companies (32%) than medium companies (12%). The most popular reason for medium companies was value for money (30%), followed by reliability (22%).

Figure 7e: Reasons for choice of leased line supplier

Base: All SMEs using leased lines, Nov ’02 

	All SMEs (Base: 126)	Small (Base: 33*)	Medium (Base: 93*)
Already supply telecom services	29%	32%	12%
Most reliable company	15%	14%	22%
Best value for money	14%	11%	30%
No alternative available	9%	8%	16%
Historical reasons	9%	10%	2%
Recommendation	3%	3%	3%
Company policy	2%	2%	3%
Not aware of alternatives	2%	0%	9%
**Other	16%	16%	13%

*NB small base size, so result should be viewed with caution.

** all with 1% or less

Switching behaviour

7.11 12% of leased line users had previously used a different company for their leased line services.

7.12 Reasons for switching suppliers from the 18 businesses who had switched leased line supplier included unhappiness with the service reliability and quality of their previous supplier, availability of cheaper deals, convenience of one telecoms account.

7.13 Of those that had not previously used any different suppliers, the most popular reason for not changing was that they were generally satisfied with their current supplier (30%), or more specifically satisfied with the costs (14%), quality (13%) or after sales care (5%). Less positive reasons included being unaware of alternative suppliers (10%), changing would be to much hassle (9%), and tied into a long contract (4%).

Use of multiple networks for leased lines

7.14 One in ten (9%) SMEs with leased lines said their leased lines use more than one suppliers network and the majority were happy with this.

7.15 4 in 5 said their leased lines used only one network and again the majority were satisfied with