The figures, which show that 20 per cent of BT Business Broadband customers are located in the South East of England and only three per cent in the North East, highlight the difference in levels of take up between the regions.
London came second, from the 11 regions, with 15 per cent, followed by the East of England and the North West, with 12 and ten per cent respectively. In fifth and sixth place came the South West and West Midlands.
Scotland took seventh place with seven per cent, with the East Midlands and Yorkshire & Humberside tying for eighth place on six per cent of UK connections. Wales came in tenth with four per cent.
To help resellers to demonstrate the benefits that broadband can deliver to their business customers, and to show businesses that already have broadband how they can get the most from their connection, BT has launched its latest guide: Understanding Broadband for Business.
“Smaller companies are continuing to adopt broadband at an extraordinary rate and our channel partners are adding new connections each month,” explained Phil Purssey, Sales Director for the Indirect Channel at BT Business. “What we’re finding is that areas that didn’t have many early adopters are now really embracing broadband – and that’s where the growth is for resellers to tap into.
“Businesses are also being more innovative, not just buying broadband for email and surfing the internet, but also to take advantage of services like remote support and broadband telephony services. For the channel, using broadband as the basis for selling other, value-added services is a vital step towards convergent technologies such as VoIP.”
David Frost, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said: “The internet is evolving rapidly, and we see our small business members across the country increasingly exploiting the benefits of broadband.
“The Northeast of England has always been more focused on traditional industries and has been slower to adopt new computer technologies, but that’s changing. Although there is a regional difference at the moment, there will be very little difference between North and South in a couple of years.”