The big corporations used to feel pretty good about their T-1 connections, while small business users were relegated to narrow band connections. No more! According to a joint survey by Sprint/Covad, nearly 66 percent of the respondents are using broadband to access the Internet. Rest are still using narrowband dial-up and half of those would consider upgrading to DSL type broadband services, according to the survey conducted by Equation Research. These numbers somehow don’t jive with the recent report from Probe Research.

Cedar Knolls, NJ-based research and consulting group, in its most recent reports says that the North American market for business DSL will reach $1.9 billion in revenue by 2008. The number of DSL lines servicing business customers will grow to 1.5 million within the same timeframe. There were 830,000 business DSL lines in service at year end 2003. Revenues, at $964 million in 2003, will grow to $1.9 billion by 2008. Small business will account for the largest and fastest growth in this segment, representing 85% of all lines by 2008.

“Businesses represent less than 10% of all DSL lines,” comments John Marcus, Probe Group Vice President. “But the higher ARPU and margins make these customers more valuable in terms of revenues and potential profits. This is a sizable customer base that is represented by small businesses with less than 100 employees, one of the most sought-after segments in IT and telecom due to its size and potential.”