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Back in November 2001, CAD Spaghetti reported on the uptake of broadband amongst companies using CAD/CAM software in the UK. We reported that 8% of such companies were using broadband – in line with the European average. Industry analysts have been predicting a massive increase in the use of broadband; just over a year on, CAD Spaghetti has looked again at the situation to see if there are any signs of this. We interviewed managers of CAD/CAM functions at 248 UK companies using CAD/CAM across a range of industry sectors. Ninety per cent of our sample stated that their companies had Internet access. Existing Access Of those with Internet access, the number of companies using broadband has increased significantly from 8% to 17% - with a slight decrease in dial-up, and a stronger decrease for ISDN. The few “other” answers received were in the main also broadband access, being leased lines and ADSL users – showing there is still a level of confusion about what broadband really is.
The only industry sector where we have sufficient numbers of companies to analyse meaningfully in more detail is Mechanical Engineering, where the uptake of broadband is a little lower at 12% - more of the companies in this sector are relying on dial up connections. Broadband continues to be used more in larger companies – 71% of sites with less than ten employees still rely on traditional dial-up access, whereas only 13% of sites with more than fifty staff rely on dial-up. 20% of these larger sites now use broadband, although 40% still use ISDN connections. Satisfaction Ratings In November 2001, 81% of respondents believed the speed and reliability of their connection to be satisfactory for their needs. One year on, we asked separate questions about speed and reliability, but a broadly similar picture was seen – around the same number of respondents seemed satisfied with the speed and reliability of their connection. Interestingly, however, responses are a little more polarised on connection speed, with one in five saying they are not satisfied with this aspect.
Broadband Intentions In terms of considering switching to broadband, the picture remains the same as at the end of 2001 – around a quarter of our sample has looked into upgrading to broadband. Two in five said their companies have not considered this option, and a third don’t know if it has been looked into. However, there does seem to have been some movement in the market, in that those who have considered upgrading seem much more likely now than a year ago to actually do something about it. Just over one in five of our sample has definite plans to install broadband – significantly more than the 8% who planned to do so in 2001. A third have no plans to switch, and almost half are still undecided.
This picture remains similar for the Mechanical Engineering sector – 27% of our sample in this sector has looked into upgrading to broadband, and 21% plan to install it – 40% however still don’t know whether they will move to broadband. Conclusion The high proportion of companies undecided about a switch to broadband is likely to be linked to a general unawareness or apathy towards the potential benefits of broadband amongst construction, engineering and architecture companies. Forty five per cent of our total sample believe there to be no value in switching to broadband, and a further third has no opinion one way or the other. Almost a third of the total sample do not even know if broadband is available in their area.
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