Press & PR

While BT's new 21st Century Network (21CN) rolls out from next week, many small businesses may find themselves unable to benefit from the faster speeds made available, it has been reported.

From next week, internet service providers (ISPs) using BT Wholesale infrastructure to deliver broadband will be able to offer some customers speeds of up to 24Mbps - up from the currently available 8 Mbps.

However, many ISPs may resist doing so unless BT offers the new services at a comparable price to the older network, Computer Weekly reports.

Ian Fogg, senior broadband analyst at Jupiter Research, told the publication that while businesses are demanding higher speeds, price is still a limiting factor.

"How the wholesale price of [21CN] services compares against old ones will determine how fast ISPs make it available and in turn how affordable it will be for small businesses."

According to BT, a full UK rollout of the 21CN broadband network will be complete by the end of the decade.

Vonage offers small businesses looking to make a saving on telecoms costs the V-Plan 4, which offers users a secure way to make cheap international calls.