A poll commissioned by the UK's Federation of Small Businesses ahead of the House of Lords debate on the controversial Digital Economy Bill shows that nearly two-thirds of small businesses in the UK are dissatisfied with their broadband connection speed.

Statistics released by the FSB show that 63% of small businesses are dissatisfied with the speed of their broadband connection. Of the 1,300 small businesses polled in the survey, 25% further stated that they were not happy with the overall reliability of their broadband service.

The FSB is urging the government to take the opportunity presented by the House of Lords debate on the Digital Economy Bill to ensure that Britain’s small businesses remain competitive, by including in the legislation regulations to ensure that service providers supply small businesses with the level of service they need.

A high percentage of those question in the FSB survey – 30% – said that the area in which their business was located had a very unreliable broadband service, and that the connection was unstable. 13% said that moving to another area where broadband speed and reliability was higher was a serious option. Some rural areas are especially affected by unreliable and slow broadband service.

The FSB is pressing the government to impose minimum standards on broadband service providers, including a guaranteed connection speed of 8mb per second for business premises, instead of the 2mb per second currently promised by the government. The FSB further called for the telecommunications ombudsman, Otelo, and the regulatory body for the telecoms industry, Ofcom to become involved to ensure maintenance of any new standards laid down.

The National Chairman of the FSB, John Wright, observed that:

“The online world is crucial to small business development, especially as small firms look to grow and expand as the economy recovers. Small businesses, particularly in rural areas, have been promised action to deal with slow broadband and the ‘notspots' – where there is no broadband access – but they have seen little action.

He concluded: "These figures show that the broadband service provided to small firms is letting them down. Small businesses need fast and reliable broadband to ensure the UK remains a key player in the global economy. The Digital Economy Bill gives the Government a chance to guarantee Britain becomes a real competitor and the FSB is calling on the Government to enforce rules on service providers and regulators so that small firms are given the fair deal they deserve."