Business broadband giving you the frights? Here's what you need to know right now

As Halloween looms, thoughts turn to things that go bump in the night, scary stories, and whatever else makes our stomachs turn.

For many businesses, one of those frightening things is broadband. It might not seem particularly scary, but if you’re not sure what type of connection you need and why, it can be enough to unsettle even the strongest constitution.

And with the recent PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) stop sell, things in the broadband world aren’t what they used to be.

But fear not. We’re here to shed some light on all things business broadband and prove that there’s nothing to be afraid of.

Business broadband: where we’ve come from

Up until very recently, business broadband came in three distinct flavours: ADSL, FTTC and Full Fibre. Let’s look at each of those in turn.

ASDL: Short for Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line, ADSL is your standard copper broadband. Existing entirely on the old copper telephone network (right up to your home or office), ADSL was prone to interference, signal loss and – crucially – only offered download speeds up to around 10Mbps.

With the PSTN stop sell now very much here, ADSL is no longer available except in very rare circumstances where no alternative is available.

FTTC: FTTC or Fibre to the Cabinet is the successor to ADSL business broadband. Marketed for many years as ‘fibre broadband’, it isn’t entirely a fibre connection. Although fibre optic cable is used to connect the nearest street cabinet to the internet, the distance between the cabinet and your premises is still covered by copper wires. FTTC is much faster and more reliable than ADSL broadband, with average download speeds reaching around 67Mbps, which is enough for smooth web browsing and video calling for businesses with a small number of users.

Full Fibre: Also known as FTTP (or Fibre to the Premises), this is modern broadband that uses fibre optic cable all the way to your home or office. It’s faster, more reliable, and is the technology that most new broadband connections will be using in the future.

Business broadband: where we’re heading

The PSTN stop sell has pretty much put an end to new ADSL and FTTC connections. From now on, business broadband will come in two forms.

Wherever it is available, the only business broadband connection you’ll be able to buy is full fibre. With download speeds up to 900Mbps available, it’s good for most business needs, and will generally offer a faster and more reliable alternative to older forms of business broadband.

But where full fibre isn’t available, you’ll have a new choice for your business broadband needs. That choice is SOGEA (or Single Order Generic Ethernet Access). SOGEA business broadband takes advantage of the infrastructure left behind by FTTC broadband. Like FTTC it will use fibre optic cables up to the street cabinet, and copper wires for the last leg of the journey.

SOGEA provides similar speeds and performance to FTTC, ensuring that businesses in locations where full fibre isn’t yet available can still enjoy a solid connection.

If you’re looking for guaranteed availability, performance and a line that’s yours only, there is another option: an Ethernet leased line. Leased line broadband provides guaranteed performance for businesses of all sizes, and is available in a range of speeds.

Business broadband: what’s new?

Aside from the removal from sale of ADSL and FTTC and their replacement by SOGEA broadband, there’s something else new about business broadband, which is that business broadband no longer comes with line rental, and that means no associated telephone service.

So how do you go about ensuring that your business is still able to make and receive calls?

The answer is simple. Where you’re looking for a single line solution, similar to traditional business line rental, you’ll need a Digital Voice service. Digital Voice operates over your broadband connection rather than the telephone network, but otherwise will give you a very similar experience to traditional line rental.

For multi-line services – or if you want to add call centre functionality to your business – CloudComms is the solution.

And there you have it. As you can see, as the world of broadband changes, there really is nothing to be afraid of.