What's the right Broadband for you?

Broadband availability tends towards a lottery in the UK at the moment. For the two-thirds of UK homes and businesses lucky enough to access broadband over BT's ADSL network, there is a confusing choice between around 100 Internet service providers offering services.

In cities and major towns, other telecoms operators also provide rival products that may be cheaper or faster than those from BT. Several innovative packages aimed at businesses and heavy Net users are already on offer, such as Easynet's Business Broadband MAX and Bulldog's BizTime.

In many rural and remote areas, the choices are obviously more limited, with no chance of getting two-way broadband at ADSL prices. But there are still options, including wireless and satellite -- some companies have even opted to become their own wireless ISP.

Deciding which is the right broadband package for your business depends on a set of criteria including price, geography, and the level of service you require. We've laid out three different scenarios to help narrow down your search.

Scenario 1 -- SME in a small market town

21st Sentry Dezine is a fictional medium-sized clothes retailer based in one of the UK's small towns. It employs 50 full and part-time workers, and owns several PCs. To allow staff to access email and send files over the Web, it has installed an ISDN line that costs £65 per month. ISDN only provides a maximum connection speed of 128Kbps, which means an annoying wait every time a member of staff tries to upload or download large files.

By upgrading to ADSL, the firm could massively increase the speed of its Web connection, and would even be able to cut costs if they bought an entry-level package.

21st's options are limited, though. ADSL is available in the area, thanks to BT Wholesale, which has upgraded the local exchange, but no other telcos have moved into the area with competing services. This means that 21st Century can only choose from BT Wholesale's ADSL products resold by ISPs. The company should be investigating what different ISPs are offering, because prices, added extras, and terms and conditions can vary.

The cheapest business broadband package available provides a downlink from the Internet of up to 512 kilobits per second (kbps) and an uplink of up to 256kbps -- the same as a standard consumer package. This will typically cost around £30 plus VAT per month, but users are restricted to linking just one PC to the broadband connection.

But 21st Sentry's owners like the sound of putting all their staff on a high-speed Web connection, so decide to look at more versatile -- and expensive -- packages. With a 1Mbps or 2Mbps product, the bandwidth can be shared between 4 PCs, or even 10 PCs if the user also installs an Ethernet link.

Package costs vary between different ISPs. For example, Nildram's Office1000 and Office2000 products cost £49 and £67 per month respectively, versus £52 and £82 per month for similar services from Eclipse Internet and £55 and £70 per month from Plusnet (all prices exclude VAT).

It's tricky to quantify the financial benefits of installing broadband, but some experts say savings can be in the thousands. Campaign group Broadband4Britain recently installed a 1Mb ADSL link at its headquarters, replacing a 128Kbps connection. Campaign manager Andy Williams claims this move will result in a saving of £8,000 per year.

Scenario 2 -- SME in a major city

21st Sentry's main rival, TomorrowsTogs, heard of 21st's upgrade and decided to follow suit. Although its rival has a steal on it, TomorrowsTogs has a lot more choice as it's based in a city.

A process called "local-loop unbundling" (LLU) has allowed other telcos to install their kit in BT's local exchanges and offer competing services. Only a few exchanges have been unbundled so far, but TomorrowsTogs is lucky enough to be based near an open exchange and can pick from a wider range of options.

Easynet, which has unbundled the most exchanges, is using LLU to offer 4Mbps and 8Mbps ADSL services. Prices begin at £199 per month, and these products are aimed at firms who need high levels of bandwidth but don't want to pay at least twice as much a year for a leased line.

Bulldog, the other serious LLU player, also offers a range of high-end broadband products. These include a 4Mb business broadband package for £107 (excluding VAT) a month. Unfortunately, this product is only available in London.

Both Easynet and Bulldog are committed to unbundling more exchanges in future months, so the only way to keep track of whether your local exchange has been unbundled is to monitor http://www.uk.easynet.net and http://www.bulldogcommunications.com.

Scenario 3 -- Two-person consultancy working from rural cottage

One of 21st Sentry Dezine's business partners, Xternal advice, has traditionally communicated using phone and fax; but after 21st's upgrade, it's considering a similar move to broadband. Unfortunately Xternal is a husband-and-wife operation, based in a remote cottage, and is in the 21 percent of the population not covered by BT's ADSL service.

By 2005, BT is confident that it will have reached 90 percent coverage, but doesn't believe it will get much further, which doesn't help Xternal much in the short-term.

Other technologies do offer a solution, although a more expensive or less powerful one, while some firms are already taking the difficult decision to relocate in search of high-speed Internet access.

If it's prepared to wait, there is another way Xternal could get access. Local activists, who are part of a national movement, are taking matters into their own hands by lobbying the telecoms industry to service their demand. Some are even setting up their own networks.

Wireless is usually the friend of anyone who takes the DIY approach. Technologies such as 802.11b (or Wi-Fi) can carry a high-speed connection across several miles, which means a number of remote locations can link to a single base station some distance away.

Vendors are beginning to target this growing market by creating "wireless ISP in a box" products, which contain all the equipment needed to create a commercial wireless network.

Alvarion recently launched such a product, costing £20,000. It claims that someone who set up an ISP using this kit could break even within a year.

Another firm, LocustWorld, is working on a product where a group of wireless access points become a coherent high-speed "mesh". With the access points costing just £300 each, some broadband activists believe that MeshAP system could revolutionise rural broadband provision.

All wireless solutions have one potential hitch, though, which is that they still need to be connected to a high-speed link so that they actually have some bandwidth to share around. This backhaul can be expensive, but more crucially, it may not even be available in some places.

But if Xternal doesn't fancy turning itself into a wireless ISP, the best solution could come from satellite broadband, which works anywhere in the UK. One-way satellite can be cheaper per month than ADSL, although the installation costs can be several hundred pounds more. The downside is that while it offers high-speed downloading, the uplink is just 56Kbps and requires a phone connection.

Two-way satellite is a superior technology, but as well as costing more each month, there is also a hefty installation cost. For example, BT Openworld's Business Satellite 500/4 product -- which can be used to share 500Kbps between four PCs -- costs £109 (excluding VAT) per month, with an installation cost of £1,299 (excluding VAT) on top.

Many regional development agencies have recognised the importance of broadband by offering subsidies to firms who decide they need a satellite solution. This could mean a saving of up to 50 percent for Xternal.