SMEs sensitive to phone costs

Stephen Withers
Wednesday, 23 May 2007 11:30

IT Industry - Market

Price is the deciding factor for 85 percent of SMEs choosing fixed line and mobile phone providers, according to a survey.

But when it comes to Internet services, the story is less clear cut. Download speed is the most important factor, but only for 35 percent of respondents.

Perhaps surprisingly, given the generally low regard the public seems to have for telcos (Telstra CEO Sol Trujillo was recently placed fourth in a Readers Digest poll to find the least trusted Australians), most SMEs are generally happy with their telecommunications provider. When they aren't, the reasons are likely to be uncompetitive pricing, not receiving a single bill for all services, or apathetic customer service.

The emergence of VoIP could shake SMEs loose from their current telephony providers. 25 percent of those surveyed are already using it, and 47 percent would consider completely replacing their fixed line services with VoIP.

The survey was endorsed by telecommunications wholesaler telcoinabox, SETEL (Small Enterprise Telecommunications Centre) and ATUG (Australian Telecommunications Users Group). 5000 respondents completed an online questionnaire in March and April 2007. The complete report costs $500.