LONDON, 9 March 2009 – Pipex, the leading ISP for small businesses, today releases the results of its research into the SME market, revealing that the majority of this audience use their home broadband connection for professional use.

The study by Redshift Research for Pipex, which asked 900 small business owners what type of internet connection they use, found that more businesses (79%) use their home broadband internet connection for work regularly than any other mode of connection. In contrast, just under half (48%) use office/business broadband. In addition, when asked which is the most frequent method of connection two thirds (64%) stated home broadband and only a third (30%) said office/business broadband.

Most productive when working from home
As many as 55% of the respondents also said that they are at their most productive when working from home compared to 35% who say they are most productive working from the office. Working from home can have many advantages, including flexibility and saving time on commuting – the respondents said they spend on average one to two hours every day commuting. This may explain why the majority feel they get more done working at home particularly as broadband is considered so easy to set up and use today – 77% said they found it “easy or very easy” to set up and only 7% found it difficult.

Lack of internet connection is the number one frustration
Small businesses are now so reliant on broadband that 69% of respondents to the survey said that “not being able to connect to internet” was the most frustrating situation followed by “not getting access to your emails” (60%) – both were more frustrating than losing your keys (28%) or your mobile phone (31%), cancelled appointments (22%) and traffic jams (31%).

Lance Spencer, Product and Marketing Director at Pipex, says: “The research clearly shows that broadband is a vital business tool and with such easy access, the office may no longer be the preferred working environment. Working from home can be just as effective, however, home broadband tends to be consumer grade and does not come with the features and support of a dedicated business package. Business broadband has been considered to be too expensive for many small businesses, but with Pipex's extremely competitive business packages, a small business can now afford a business class solution with the sort of performance and support that will give them a competitive advantage, whether they are working from home or not.

"The new Pipex broadband packages include a host of attractive features such as prioritised traffic to avoid slow down in performance during peak hours, Enhanced Upstream, for those reliant on uploading as well as downloading files and assured bandwidth channels that allow a defined amount of constant 200Kb*, 500Kb* or 1Mb* for key applications such as video conferencing, Voice over IP and similar 'real-time' applications."

Pipex Pro with Enhanced Upstream offers up to 24Mb downstream and 2.5Mb upstream for only £19.50 a month ex VAT*. There is even a solution for those who require a more powerful business broadband solution; Pipex Premium Plus with Enhanced Upstream offers the same upstream and downstream performance (guaranteed symmetrical bandwidth) of 1Mb for just £49 a month, and includes free Enhanced Care, free Engineer Installation and 5000 minutes† of calls each month.

*All speeds are dependent on distance from the BT exchange

Further details on Pipex's business broadband products can be found at: www.pipex.co.uk/business

For more information please contact:
ida.toender@uk.tiscali.com
Ida Toender, Tiscali UK Limited


About Pipex Business
Pipex Business forms part of the Tiscali UK Group. As the country's first commercial ISP and with over 17 years' experience in delivering internet services to small businesses, Pipex Business offers users a fast, reliable connection and unrivalled expertise.

Using the Tiscali UK core fibre and LLU network, Pipex Business offers broadband products designed to meet the needs of the small business with features including guaranteed bandwidth, prioritised traffic and Enhanced Upstream as well as a dedicated 24/7 UK based business quality support centre.

Pipex Business also offers a comprehensive portal for small businesses giving advice and information on everything you need to run your business from HR to marketing and from legal to finance. Regularly updated, the portal offers business news feeds as well as maps and local search: www.pipex.co.uk