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RESEARCH, ANALYSIS & TRENDS

Cisco's Broadband Index reveals peo-

ple value access to the internet more

than ever

According to Cisco’s global survey of almost nectivity to support their livelihoods. To address the
60,000 workers across 30 countries about their demands on their broadband connection, almost half of
home broadband access, quality and usage, those surveyed (43%) are planning to upgrade their
economic and societal growth will not happen internet service in the next 12 months.
without universal access to fast and reliable
internet. "Secure, high-quality, reliable internet is critical to make
hybrid work successful," said Jonathan Davidson, Ex-
Hybrid work depends on quality Internet ecutive Vice President and General Manager, Mass-
Scale Infrastructure Group, Cisco. "We are working
The success of hybrid work hinges on the quality and closely with our global service provider customers to
availability of the internet, according to the report: 75% change the economics of the internet and help them
of workers say broadband services need to dramatically reimagine internet infrastructure to make it better and
improve to support this new way of working. Almost more accessible to connect more people and business-
eight out of ten workers (78%) surveyed say the reliabil- es who rely on it."
ity and quality of broadband connections is important to
them. Dependence on high-performance internet ac- Particularly critical for SMEs
cess is underlined by the fact that eight out of ten re-
spondents (84%) actively use their broadband at home Nearly half (48%) of the workforce now relies on their
for four hours or more each day. Meanwhile three or home internet to work from home or run their own busi-
more people use the internet at the same time in 60% ness. This is especially critical for small and medium-
of households. sized enterprises (SMEs), that do not have the same
resources and IT infrastructure of larger enterprises. A
Many teleworkers need more than a basic level of con- new digital business environment has emerged where

10 February 2022: Social Media & Influencer Marketing