UK Online targets small-business market

UK Online, the first ISP in the country to offer next-generation broadband speeds nationally, is boosting its focus on the small-business market.

The ISP is launching a new, unlimited download service for its target market — businesses with between one and 10 employees — which comes with 24/7 support, free McAfee security and free domains. The service is priced from £19.99 per month, exclusive of VAT.

In 2005, UK Online launched an ADSL2+ broadband service which provides downstream speeds of up to 22Mbps. That service was made available shortly after BSkyB bought Easynet, UK Online's parent company, and, at the time, analysts suggested the ISP's speed capabilities were a primary reason behind that purchase. However, the new small-business offering is for speeds of up to only 8Mbps.

Chris Stening, UK Online's managing director, told ZDNet UK that small-business customers had different requirements from those of speed-seeking consumers, who wanted to boost things like gaming and P2P. "The needs of our small-business customers are quite different to some of our consumer customers," he said on Friday. "That is why we have made such a thing of our 24/7 tech support. SMBs don't work nine-to-five and they need accessible, reliable support."

Stening suggested that, with many ISPs, "a lot of their business services are not vastly different from their consumer service, but are substantially more expensive". He claimed that UK Online therefore had scope to grow its customer base among small businesses who do not necessarily "want to pay extra money", but need always-available, UK-based support.

Asked whether higher speeds would be made available at some point, Stening said that UK Online is planning to develop its service in the future, but the current proposition was "very compelling".

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