The only thing worse than lousy internet, pausing mid-stream of your favourite TV series, is when it affects your business.
The number of businesses relying on the internet has grown significantly, especially after the pandemic accelerated digital transformation.
In developed countries like Australia, the US, and the UK, internet access among businesses is nearly universal.
But what happens when the internet underperforms?
Let’s look at the data behind how slow internet impacts business performance. And why it’s costing more than you think.
Lost productivity
- Approximately 94% of UK small businesses experience poor internet connections, and 91% face outages. Nearly half (48%) report that these issues negatively affect productivity, with an average loss of up to three hours per month due to connectivity problems (zen.co.uk).
- A survey of over 500 London-based companies found that 71% believe slow and unreliable broadband harms their business operations (Uswitch).
- A study by OnePoll found that employees lose 44 minutes every week due to poor broadband speeds and connectivity. This adds up to losing a week’s worth of work per employee, all because of slow internet.
- A study by Sandisk found that employees waste an average of one week per year waiting for slow networks to respond, leading to significant productivity losses.
Customer experience and sales
- Around 40% of SMEs report that poor internet performance has negatively impacted customer experience, including issues with processing online orders, longer website load times, and slower response to customer enquiries (zen.co.uk).
- According to Google, 53% of users abandon a website if it takes longer than three seconds to load, highlighting the importance of fast, stable internet for customer retention and brand reputation.
Financial implications
- The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) estimates that broadband outages cost the UK economy approximately £1.28 billion in 2022, due to prevented work.
- A study commissioned by Samsung found that small businesses lose over 98 hours annually. That’s equivalent to 12 working days! This is due to technology issues, including slow internet. This leads to cancelled meetings, missed deadlines, and lost business opportunities.
- According to a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, approximately 2–3 million U.S. small businesses lack adequate broadband access, hindering their operations and growth potential.
Employee wellbeing
- Slow or unreliable internet is cited as a major source of frustration among employees, with 45% identifying it as the biggest impact on their work.
- This is followed by loss of productivity (38%) and missed deadlines (24%) (Talk Business).
Connectivity gaps
- Nearly one-third (33%) of small businesses struggle with broadband speeds insufficient for their current needs, and 40% say their broadband is not adequate for future requirements.
- Additionally, 32% report that poor connectivity has prevented them from contacting customers (Federation of Small Business UK).
- The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that 13% of businesses identified unsuitable internet speed as a barrier to effective use of information and communication technologies.
Internet security and the cost of cyber threats
- Cyberattacks are not limited to large corporations. In Australia, small businesses face an average loss of $50,000 per cyber incident. In the U.S.A small businesses report median annual losses of $8,300 due to cyberattacks (news.com.au).
- In 2024, the average cost of a data breach in the U.S. was $9.36 million. The highest globally. These costs encompass legal fees, data recovery, lost business, and reputation harm.
On this point of cybersecurity, businesses with slow or unreliable internet are often using legacy systems. Such as old routers, modems, or unmanaged networks. These are more vulnerable to hacks and cyber threats.
Upgrading your internet to business-grade solutions like Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) or Enterprise Ethernet can provide more secure and reliable connections.
Futureproof your small business
“Upgrading connectivity is one of the simplest, highest-return investments a business can make in the digital age.”
– Harvard Business Review
Faster internet solutions
To improve your company’s internet speed, you need to have the right amount of bandwidth. Ready to optimise your business’s internet?
Well, with reliable options such as FTTP taking over, your location shouldn’t’ stop you from getting the benefits of ultrafast fibre.
FTTP offers ultra-fast, symmetrical speeds with higher reliability and minimal downtime. It supports cloud apps, video calls, and large data transfers with ease.
This helps you to boost productivity, improve customer service, and scale operations without interruption.
You could also consider enterprise internet options like Enterprise Ethernet or Dark Fibre should you want to really invest big.
Enterprise Ethernet is a high-performance, business-grade internet service delivered over dedicated fibre. It offers symmetrical speeds, scalable bandwidth, and prioritised traffic, making it ideal for data-heavy operations, cloud use, and VoIP.
Dark Fibre (less ominous than what it sounds) is unused optical fibre infrastructure available for private use. Your business leass or buys it to build your own high-speed network.
Since it’s unlit, users install their own equipment to ‘light’ it, offering full control, high security, and scalable bandwidth. Dark fibre is ideal for data centres, carriers, or large enterprises.
So whatever your business, there are faster, more reliable internet options on the market.
Key points:
Slow or unreliable internet affects businesses across six critical areas:
- Productivity losses
- Customer dissatisfaction and lost sales
- Financial costs
- Employee wellbeing
- Connectivity gaps
- Cyber security
Marshall Thurlow is Director and Founder of Orion Marketing Pty Ltd. He is a digital marketer with expertise in SEO, website design, content marketing, and project management.
