People in the UK are now spending more than a quarter of their day online.¹ What’s more, internet use doubled across the country in 2020, compared to the previous year. These are the findings of research by Ofcom, and they reveal there has been a record-breaking level of internet usage during lockdown.²
Short-term fads, or long-term transformations? As McKinsey puts it: “The rapid migration to digital technologies driven by the pandemic will continue into the recovery… We are witnessing what will surely be remembered as a historic deployment of remote work and digital access to services across every domain.”³ These changes aren’t fads or trends. We’ve been moving towards more flexible and remote working for some time now, and businesses have become increasingly dependent on digital technologies to operate – reaching customers wherever they are, and however they want to communicate.
In fact, people now have an emotional investment in good connectivity. A recent global study by anthropologists at UCL found that a “smartphone is no longer just a device we use, but the place we live.”4 When we have easy and ready access to connectivity, it can be of great comfort. Like when we’re able to seamlessly collaborate with remote colleagues, shop, plan, bank, learn, or catch up with loved ones. On the flip side, poor connectivity is a major source of stress, denying us access to our online worlds.
So now, here we are: accelerating into a hyperconnectivity used to power our businesses, livelihoods and the way we live our lives. For your customers, it’s opened up new opportunities to do things differently. In a post-pandemic world, the ability to provide certainty and high-quality connectivity that can be relied upon is central to any business with ambitious growth plans. Your customers have never been more aware of this fact.
The solution for your customers Vodafone Business, working collaboratively with partners like you, is empowering your customers to set new standards of connectivity. By doing so, together we’re making sure they’re confidently connected online.
Through our Dedicated Internet Access (DIA) and Ethernet services, we’re providing high-capacity, worry-free internet connections that your customers don’t have to share. Many of the benefits of DIA and Ethernet are the same. Namely stability, reliability and security when compared to wireless LANs. Unlike standard shared broadband services, they guarantee private dedicated access 99.9% of the time and consistent speeds. But different businesses need different approaches. DIA offers fully dedicated direct internet access, whereas Ethernet can be a private circuit between Local Area Networks and Wide Area Networks. It means your customer can have secure online communication between locations such as campuses, sites, offices, or labs.
We offer unlimited access, with no usage caps or hidden additional charges, and let your customers choose speeds from 10Mbps up to 10Gbps with superfast upload as well as superfast download speeds. It’s perfect for the bandwidth-hungry businesses in your portfolio who can benefit from 100% of the bandwidth they pay for. Customers get on-demand 24/7 access to proactive service monitoring and support to ensure the health of their connectivity. And, we cover the cost of installation when they sign up for a specified period of time.
We are able to do all of this, working alongside our partners to make business better together, as one of the largest networks in the world. Our award-winning network offers performance at competitive prices, as well as flexible connectivity products and services for your customers to bundle into a unique plan for their specific business needs. So, whenever and however they need to be online, they know the solutions you’ve secured for them can always be relied on.
This proposition is constantly being enhanced, too. We’re investing in innovation across all parts of our business, from Internet of Things networks to mobile and fixed connectivity in order to stay two-steps ahead for you and your customers. We’re committed to working with you, harnessing our joint knowledge of customer needs and digital solutions. Together, we can drive seamless connectivity services that enhance ways of working and drive growth.
Vodafone Business is bringing you a new frontier in connectivity. By working with us, you can get your customers ready for a post-pandemic world that thrives on the seamless merging of offline and online – driven by Vodafone’s digital connectivity. Our dedicated partner team is ready to talk when you are.
Vodafone offers burstable bandwidth and traffic prioritisation for flexibility at peak times. It’s ideal for businesses that rely on cloud-based applications, VoIP services, or who host their own website.
- Kathy Quashie Head of Indirect Business at Vodafone UK
1. Ofcom, 2020, https://www. ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/latest/media/media-releases/2020/uk-internet-use-surges.
2. BBC, 2020, https://www. bbc.co.uk/news/technology-55486157.
3. McKinsey, 2020, https://www. mckinsey.com/business-functions/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/the-covid-19-recovery-will-be-digital-a-plan-for-the-first-90-days.
4. UCL, 2021, https://www.uclpress.co.uk/products/171335