Music, movies and games are only one small part of the picture where broadband is concerned.

The extra speed offered by broadband when compared to dial up access is a revelation. Being able to visit content rich web sites and gather information is a much faster process.

For a small company though, the increased bandwidth speed and instantaneousness of broadband means they can improve efficiency, productivity and communications with clients, suppliers and trading partners, not to mention internal communications.

Checking email also becomes less of chore when your inbox can be popped in the twinkling of an eye, so responding to business messages can become almost real time. Large attachments, meanwhile, no longer tie up your machine for minutes on end. And sending documents or downloading PDFs from the web is super fast too.

In addition to the possibility to route phone over the internet and save a packet in the process, broadband enables the use of a range of technologies you would otherwise be unable to take advantage of. These include remote working, video conferencing, streaming video, e-learning, greater ability to use web-based applications and tools, and secure off-site data back up.

 Music and video are a minor part of the Internet. Broadband allows quicker access to sites which have considerably more content - including embedded video and music. Broadband also allows you to build a more complicated website for your own presence in the Internet by speeding up the transfer of code and information to your server.