Did you know that 350,000 business premises are now connected to services on the nbn™ broadband access network? It is a number that is growing too, with 20,000 businesses a month migrating to a business plan over the nbn™ network with a phone or internet service provider.

More than half of all Australian premises are now ready for service on the nbn™ access network and Australia’s largest ever telecommunications endeavour is on track to complete the rollout by 2020.

To meet this high demand, NBN Co is ramping up its investment in the migration of business end users. We are also working to develop enterprise engagement teams and technicians who will work closely with service providers to help facilitate a smooth migration.

If you haven’t already switched your business to a plan over the nbn™ network with a phone or internet service provider, it is something well worth considering. Fast broadband is about facilitating growth and opening up opportunities for businesses of all sizes. It may help you do this by making your business more efficient and improving your customer engagement.

In fact, fast broadband is becoming an essential ingredient to the success of modern businesses. Even the smallest corner store can communicate with customers, advertise their wares and share news with high resolution assets.

No matter what industry you are in, there is good reason to consider migrating to fast broadband such as via the nbn™ access network, as these examples show.

Digital services

If your income is derived from selling digital products or online services, fast broadband is essential. Perhaps you make apps or games. Maybe you create music, illustrations, films or work in design.

You might even work with software, anti-virus, webinars, advertising or social media. This popular and active new world relies on digital distribution, be it direct through a company’s website, or through third-party portals like Fiverr, Amazon, iTunes, DeviantArt, Facebook or countless others. 

Fast broadband not only allows the fast download of digital assets, but it may also accelerate the upload of products to digital distribution networks. It may allow these files to be much larger, which aims to ensure they are delivered at the highest modern quality.

And fast broadband may improve your ability to multi-task. While your files are transferring, you may be able to continue to use the internet for other business activities.

This could include real-time high-definition communication with clients or partners, marketing through social media or other platforms, or working with like-minded creatives in cloud-based software.

At the same time, ubiquitous, fast broadband could increase your potential market. Before the nbn™ access network, a number of Australians simply couldn’t access certain digital products because their internet connection wasn’t fast enough.

That, however, is changing. As the number of Australians with fast broadband grows, so may your potential customer base.

Manufacturing and construction

Manufacturing is a key part of some product’s journey from idea to installation. We’re all familiar with industrial areas, where rows of factories house massive machines and thousands of workers.

While these businesses remain very much rooted in physical products, they may still reap benefits from fast broadband by helping to build their customer and supplier connections.

Fast broadband may help you ensure that your business is found online. It may also help you find other companies in the production chain, such as suppliers, storage facilities and delivery companies.

When this greater discoverability is combined with the possibility of high-definition communication and demonstration, and the ability to swap large design and product files, the needle can really move.

Fast broadband may help you find new partners and better prices, collaborate efficiently with suppliers and improve the experience you provide your customers.

Traditional office and retail

With fast broadband, even the smallest local business can become a national, or even international, player.

Offices and retail stores that exist through a more traditional street kerb operation can use fast broadband to help expand their business.

Through social media, email and other digital communication services, you can offer existing customers and potential new audiences fast and detailed news on your products.

You can use cloud-based security solutions to keep an eye on operations from anywhere in the world. And you can extend into a virtual storefront and allow people to buy products through the web.

Fast broadband can also help you hire remote staff who can communicate with their in-house colleagues in real-time via video call meetings. Your staff may even work simultaneously on files through the cloud.

As a result, your business may not need to increase your physical office footprint or supply the equipment. Your employers may be able to work together no matter where they are.

Best of all, fast broadband can help a traditional business ‘go glocal’. You may be able to operate out of your current physical location, but sell products into new regions across Australia, or even around the world.

Then, of course, there is the sheer numbers game of having more bandwidth available to your staff at any one time.

Tradies

The days of finding trades through print media like the Yellow Pages or newspapers are all but gone. Having a sleek, modern and active online presence makes it easier than ever to be found by buyers and build the reputation of, and trust in, your business.

At the same time, being able to efficiently manage your website, social media, online quoting forms, search engine optimisation, advertising and customer feedback can greatly increase your chances of securing work.

And you should be able to do all of this more effectively and in less time with fast broadband.

You may even be able to take your customer engagement to the next level, by offering high-definition videos, testimonials, interactive apps or VR experiences on your site. Plus, you may be able to offer real-time communication options, where visitors to your site can initiate a live chat.

Health and science

In any industry that relies on or works with huge amounts of data, fast broadband is a powerful tool. It’s not just about being able to capture data and store it securely in the cloud. It is also about utilising cloud computing and even machine learning to analyse data more efficiently and prepare it for future use.

Fast broadband may help to provide fast access to records, peers, test results, previous experiments and more from anywhere in the world. It may even facilitate instructional and training media through high-definition video and real-time webinars.

If you are convinced the time has come to migrate your business to fast broadband, such as via the nbn™ access network, you are not alone. You can join tens of thousands of other Australian companies by letting NBN Co help you build your business.

A great first place to start is this business migration guide.