New Zealand small business is on the edge of a new era. Ultra-fast broadband is changing the way those companies that receive it do business.
For much the same cost businesses will get two telephone lines for the cost of one, up to 60 times the committed data and upstream data and 7-10 times the downstream data. The catch is that not all businesses can have it now. They need to wait until the new optical fibre cables that are being laid the length and breadth of New Zealand reach the door of their businesses.
When it does arrive, they'll be able to use use ultra-fast broadband in many different ways. Some of them haven't even been discovered yet. One obvious one is that they will be able to replace costly servers and other hardware with cloud-based storage and software applications.
Multiple users and devices can also operate simultaneously, says Lynne Le Gros, head of marketing, business, at Telecom, without impacting broadband performance or speed. That saves time and money. There will be better co-ordination across multiple sites and remote working by staff will become much easier.
Some businesses are chomping at the bit to get ultra-fast broadband, others have no idea how it could help them. Yet it's not just tech-savvy businesses that will benefit. Most businesses will benefit from faster email and web pages. Others at the cutting edge of technology will milk ultra-fast broadband for huge productive gains.