Broadband options for rural businesses

The typical business broadband connection will include fixed line broadband, mobile broadband or a combination of both. There are other connectivity options that could work well for rural businesses. Much depends on your location and what is available in your area. So what are the broadband options for rural businesses?

Broadband for rural businesses

Aside from fixed line and mobile broadband, there are other solutions that you may not yet have considered. Not all of these will be available where you are located but they could be the solution you need to get connected.

Fixed Wireless Access

Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) is like WiFi but covers a town or village instead of just being indoors. Some rural areas can benefit from this technology to deliver faster speeds and more reliable connections. FWA has come a long way in the past few years with more providers offering the service in more locations.

FWA is currently capable of speeds of up to 40Mbps and can cost from as little as £20 per month. It is limited in its availability but coverage is increasing all the time.

Satellite broadband

Satellite broadband is an expensive option but is also the only option to not be limited by geography. It uses a dish much like satellite TV and a router to connect. There are a number of satellite broadband providers around who offer a selection of packages depending on your needs.

The upside to satellite broadband is that it is available anywhere in the country. It is capable of up to 50Mbps speeds too. The downside to satellite broadband is cost. It is expensive and comes with data caps. There is also latency to consider too but not too much trouble for cloud applications.

Leased line sharing

Leased line sharing is another option for rural businesses. Multiple businesses share the cost of having a leased line installed to the building or premises and then share the running costs of it. As installation and monthly fees can be too much for an individual business, sharing can overcome that.

Leased lines are capable of super-fast speeds but can cost from £300 per month to use. That cost shared by multiple businesses could be the answer you’re looking for.

Mobile broadband

We would be remiss if we didn’t mention mobile broadband because it can also solve rural connectivity issues. Vodafone has excellent coverage and fast network speeds and could be a cheaper alternative to satellite or leased lines. Business plans offer good 4G speeds and generous data caps. All backed up by the Excalibur support team.

If you’re running a business in a rural location and the traditional broadband options aren’t working, there are always alternatives. Contact Excalibur today to see what we can do to help.