Complaints about the slow speed and lack of reliability of their broadband service has been made by 60% of firms quizzed for a study by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and Institute of Commercial Management.
As many as 13% of the 1,300 companies surveyed said they would reconsider relocating if they were offered a better service elsewhere. A total of 30% said the area they lived in had an unreliable service. The findings coincide with the reading of the Digital Economy Bill in the House of Lords.
Small firms are not receiving the service from their broadband supplier that they had been promised according to the FSB, which represents the interests of more than 200,000 small and medium sized enterprises.
The FSB called upon the Government to make sure small firms and consumers get the broadband service they expected, by ensuring good broadband infrastructure was established.
The group also called for business premises to be guaranteed connection speed of 8Mb/s by internet service providers.
In order to ensure that small firms are getting a good deal, Ofcom should act truly independently of the industry, the FSB said.
John Wright, FSB, national chairman, said: "The online world is crucial to small business development, especially as small firms look to grow and expand as the economy recovers."
