Coventry’s employers are savvy about how integral broadband is for business today; according to a recent report conducted by Censuswide, nine out of 10 IT decision makers wouldn’t even consider signing the dotted line on a new lease before checking out a premises’ connectivity first. A striking 70 per cent of local businesses wouldn’t even view a property without ensuring it ranked well for broadband speeds.
Why does it matter so much? When companies have poor connectivity, the negative impacts are huge. Over half of the companies contacted (54 per cent) said they’d suffered significantly reduced productivity during internet outages. Two thirds (65 per cent) had even lost customers due to an inability to access services during periods of low or no connectivity. Bad broadband is clearly bad for business.
These findings make a strong case for bringing an end to the country’s dependence on its ageing, capacity-constrained copper networks and supporting an accelerated rollout of full fibre, which has the benefits of great reliability, speed and symmetry. However, this can currently only be accessed by less than 4 per cent of the UK, highlighting the need for investment in new infrastructure across the UK. Our economy runs on the internet now and the interview runs best on full fibre.
Coventry’s digital future is bright
When we dug into the research a bit more to see what difference this investment in new infrastructure would make to Coventry’s businesses, two thirds (62 per cent) told us it would increase productivity and half said it would help them to improve customer service, as well as encouraging staff to embrace new technologies. This shows the distinct correlation between connectivity and the potential for growth and innovation in the Coventry workplace.
Thanks to our existing network, Coventry is already a forerunner for digital transformation in the UK. Since the launch of our network in 2014, many businesses and public sector organisations have been reaping the benefits of our 180km full fibre infrastructure, and many more will soon.
Coventry is one of the first locations in the UK to benefit from CityFibre and Vodafone’s fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) project. Coventry’s network is now set to extend citywide to reach nearly every home and business. With construction work planned to start this autumn, Coventry will soon become one of the best-connected locations in the world; catapulting local business into a digital leadership position and showing how Coventry is once again at the heart of innovation in the UK.
I look forward to speaking about this research and sharing further plans for Gigabit City Coventry with visitors at this year’s #CWRocks event. Come and visit us at stand No 24 to find out more.
To find out more about the Gigabit City infrastructure in Coventry visit: cityfibre.com/coventry or follow @GigabitCov.
