Author: Andy Miller

‘Five Eyes’ Demand Back Door Access To Encrypted Services … Or Else

Posted on by Andy Miller

The frustration of the so-called ‘Five Eyes’ governments in not being allowed access to end-to-end encrypted apps such as WhatsApp has boiled-over into the threat of enforcement via legislative (or other) measures.

Who Are The ‘Five Eyes’?

The so-called ‘Five Eyes’ refers to the intelligence alliance of the governments of the UK, US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Dating back to just after World War 2, the alliance is now secured by the UKUSA Agreement, a treaty for joint cooperation in signals intelligence.

What’s The Problem?

The argument from the government perspective is that end-to-end encryption in apps such as WhatsApp and services such as Google is preventing them from gaining access to conversations of criminals, terrorists and organized crime groups, and that tech companies are refusing to build ‘back doors’ into these services to enable governments to snoop.

The argument from tech companies that use end-to-end encryption in their services is that they are private companies with a duty and responsibility to protect the personal details of their customers, to protect the free speech that takes place on their platforms, and to prevent the likely loss of customers / users and damage to their brand and image if they were known publicly to be allowing government snooping. Also, tech companies argue that if ‘back doors’ are built into supposedly encrypted and secure services, then they are no longer secure or fully encrypted, and they could be accessed by cyber-criminals, thereby posing a security threat to users.

Example

Former Home Secretary Amber Rudd (since replaced by Sajid Javid) was particularly vocal about the subject, and pressed for a back door to be built-in to WhatsApp and other encrypted messaging services after the London terror attacks in 2017 and after it was discovered that terrorist Khalid Masood, who killed four people outside parliament had used WhatsApp a few minutes before he launched his attack.

Also, an assessment by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) earlier this year said that that encryption impacts how effective law enforcement organisations can be in gathering intelligence and collecting evidence. This is particularly topical in the UK now, since Facebook recently refused to give the login details of a murder suspect to police, who are investigating the murder of Lucy McHugh.

Threats From The Five Eyes

The Five Eyes are reported to have warned that if the tech industry does not voluntarily establish lawful access to their products e.g. back doors they may pursue enforcement, via legislative or other measures in order to guarantee entry.

The Five Country Ministerial (FCM) has also concluded that the industry needs to implement functions that prevent illicit and harmful content from being uploaded in the first-place, and build user safety into the design of all online platforms.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

While it sounds reasonable and understandable that law enforcement and intelligence services would like to be able to have access to encrypted apps and services in the interests of national security in fighting terrorism and reducing crime, building in back doors to encryption means that it’s no longer encrypted and secure. These ‘back-doors’ could also, therefore, be accessed by cyber-criminals, thus causing a security threat to millions of users, most of whom aren’t terrorists or criminals. A security breach (e.g. using a back-door) could also cause major damage to the app / service-providing company in fines, lost customers/revenue and bad publicity.

There is also an argument that the privacy of users of currently encrypted apps and services could be compromised in a ‘big brother’ style way as governments and intelligence agencies are given carte blanche to snoop, and are unlikely to be transparent about just what they are snooping on. Many privacy campaigners feel that we already have enough surveillance e.g. CCTV and the power granted by the Investigatory Powers Act (aka the ‘Snoopers Charter’).

Tech companies have good commercial and other reasons for not budging in their stance, while governments can also provide convincing arguments for the building of back-doors. As with so many other powerful private companies such as the tech companies, it may take the threat of (or actual) imposed regulation and legislation to make them give any ground in an argument that is likely to run further yet.

Apple’s Autonomous Car Involved in Crash

Posted on by Andy Miller

Apple’s new autonomous vehicle, part of its ‘Project Titan’, has joined an expanding list of self-driving car prangs.

What Autonomous Vehicle?

Apple is reported to have been working on vehicle projects since 2015 under the name of ‘Project Titan’. Ever since the early reports, there has been much speculation about when an iCar will come onto the market.

The evidence, that this would be likely, came in the form of reports of hundreds of Apple employees working on a car project, hints during an interview with CEO Tim Cook back in June 2007, reports of two Apple computer scientists publishing research about a 3D detection system (that could be used in an autonomous car), and in July this year, news that an ex-Apple employee had been charged with stealing trade secrets from Apple to take to a Chinese car start-up.

Apple is also reported to be working with VW on a driverless vehicle to shuttle its employees to and from work.
The Apple car involved in the recent accident is a Lexus SUV that is being used as part of the testing for its autonomous car project.

In Driverless Mode, But Rear-Ended

In this case, even though the Apple autonomous vehicle was in driverless mode at the time, the cause of the crash (last month) is thought to be that the driver of a Nissan Leaf rear-ended the Apple car while it was doing less than 1 mph, trying to find a safe space to merge onto Lawrence Expressway in California.

Most Autonomous Vehicle Crashes Caused By Humans

It’s tempting to think that testing autonomous vehicles on public roads is bound to result in crashes caused by faults with the technology. In fact, the statistics tell a different story and indicate that human error has been the main cause of accidents involving autonomous vehicles.

For example, Axios research shows that only 8% of these types of crashes were caused by a vehicle fault, and only one such crash happened when the vehicle was in autonomous mode. In fact, six out of seven accidents happened while a human was driving, and only one of a total 57 accidents to date involving moving autonomous vehicles was caused by a fault with the AI. One more left-field statistic is that self-driving vehicles have actually been attacked by humans 3 times!

That said, and joking aside, it’s worth acknowledging that there has already been one fatality related to driverless cars. It happened when a woman was hit by a driverless car that was being tested by Uber while she was crossing the street in Tempe, Arizona.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

Although we may not be entirely convinced yet, or used to the idea of cars, lorries, and even planes operating autonomously on our roads and above our heads, the fact is that all have been tested, and look likely to become a more regular reality. At this time, it is still relatively early days for autonomous vehicles which means that there are still many untapped opportunities to use autonomous vehicles commercially, and there are of course many challenges and issues to consider around safety, insurance, regulations and reliability. For the time being, autonomous vehicles are, therefore, likely to be adopted more quickly on closed sites but operators who decide to adapt such sites to work for autonomy could expect significant improvements in productivity and safety.

As the technology to operate these vehicles becomes more advanced, prices decrease, and technical and operational problems are ironed-out, their potential to add-value to businesses / organisations / cities .e.g. for distribution / logistics, public transport, and many other uses will become apparent. They may also offer cost savings, greater reliability and easier management and planning, which are appealing benefits to businesses.

Tech Tip – Pin Your Key People

Posted on by Andy Miller

The ‘My People’ feature in Windows 10 lets you pin your closest contacts to your taskbar, thereby making it easier and quicker to email, chat with (text and video), or send files or media to them. Here’s how to set it up:

– Click the People icon / button in the Taskbar’s notification area (bottom right).

– Connect the communication apps it works with (Skype and Mail). If you’ve signed into your email accounts in the Mail and Skype apps they’ll already be connected.

– If you’re using your regular PC, you’ll see your top five contacts suggested. On a new PC, you can just choose the ‘Find and Pin’ contacts option at the bottom of the People bar. Tap this to show all the contacts in your address book, and pin three contacts as circular icons to your taskbar (more can be the ‘My People’ bar itself). You can also combine the different email and Skype accounts for a single contact here.

– You can now access your key people from the ‘My People’ pins, and even see any emojis sent to you via Skype.

Are You On The Wrong Side Of An Algorithm?

Posted on by Andy Miller

Research carried out in Australia by US data experts have highlighted the possible dangers of a future where, by default, many of us could fall foul of unchecked big-data and automated algorithmic decision-making.

Travels Yield Insights

After travelling around Australia studying the potential risks posed by algorithmic decisions affecting more parts of our lives, Dr Powles and Professor Frank Pasquale, an expert in big-data and information law at the University of Maryland, were able to highlight some important points to bear in mind.

Do You Fit The Algorithm Maker’s Assumptions?

One important thing to remember about algorithms is that they are made by a human who has a set of assumptions, and that they rely on statistics. On this basis, the researchers have concluded that some statistical processes such as averaging results in those people who fit the assumptions made by the algorithm’s creators being treated fairly, and those who don’t i.e. those who are ‘statistical outliers’ are in danger of being treated unfairly by default by algorithms.

Why Use Algorithms?

According to Professor Frank Pasquale, some of the main reasons why algorithms are used and sometimes favoured over human interaction are:

– Speed and scale. They allow you to do things quickly and can allow you to scale them to over tens of thousands of people, which can also help users to avoid the queues.

– Efficiency and productivity. The progress of pushing the use of big data and AI forward is often framed in terms of efficiency or productivity, and algorithms help with these.

– Greater sharing and enabling re-use of data.

– Human preference. The Professor noted that there are many occasions where people prefer interaction with a computer system to e.g. what they perceive as uncaring or unfeeling bureaucrats. Also, young people are becoming more accustomed to, and often prefer interacting with computers e.g. seamless, frictionless, easy interaction.

Problems

The Professor also noted that problems with relying on complicated algorithms can arise when they lack transparency i.e. what exact factors people are being judged on. The example of consumer credit scores was given where if you are eligible for a mortgage can depend, in part, on secret algorithms used to assess how creditworthy you are.

Also, as Dr Powles pointed out, some computerised systems can become so complicated that even their designers don’t know how they work, and this can cause serious problems as regards transparency.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

There is clearly a case for the value-adding use of algorithms and the products of big data as they enable businesses to increase speed and achieve scale in dealing with processes such as searches, applications etc.

As Dr Powles points out in the findings of this research however, it is vitally important that, if big decisions made by businesses and organisations that affect lives are made by algorithms, there should be fairness and transparency by default. Algorithms also need to be accountable to the people about whom they’re making decisions.

Another important point, this time from Professor Pasquale, is that automated decisions that cannot be explained simply to the people they affect will be alienating.

Businesses, therefore, need to take these factors into account when introducing algorithms to important business processes e.g. screening job applicants and making decisions on whether or not services can be supplied to those who apply.

Google Search Results Biased Says Trump

Posted on by Andy Miller

President Donald Trump has criticised Google for what he sees as hiding “fair media” coverage of him in its search engine results in a way that amounts to left-wing political bias and negativity.

Tweeting Again

The US President’s latest swipe at a tech giant accused Google of prioritising negative news stories from the “national left-wing media”.

He went so far as to say that his perceived promotion by Google of mainstream (left-wing) media outlets such as CNN, and the suppression of conservative political voices amounted to a dangerous action and a “very serious situation”.

Prompted By Fox News Report?

It has long been known that President Trump’s favourite (right-wing) news channel is Fox News. Many commentators believe that it may be no coincidence that his criticism of Google via Twitter followed the morning after a feature about the matter on Fox News.

The segment featured details of a report by Paula Bolyard who said she had performed test searches in Google on many different computers registered to different users, and that she found that 96% of the news articles presented by Google for the phrase “Trump news” were from left-wing news outlets. This is the exact figure that President Trump reported in his tweets. While Ms Bolyard accepted that this was not a scientific experiment, she noted that it did suggest a “bias against right-leaning content.”.

Paula Bolyard is also a supervising editor at PJ Media, the conservative news site.

Search Not Used To Set A Political Agenda

Google’s response has been to re-iterate that its search feature, which is controlled by automatic algorithms, is not used to set a political agenda, and that the results of searches aren’t biased toward any political ideology.

Google’s search algorithms are reported to take into account over 200 different factors, and these algorithms are regularly changed and improved to make sure that they find the most relevant links to user queries as quickly as possible.

One possible explanation for sites such as CNN.com and NYTimes.com ranking highly in searches is the fact that they are likely to have many readers linking to them, and they are very popular sites.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

Google (Alphabet Inc) is a private company, and as one U.S. member of Congress Ted Lieu pointed out in a tweet responding to President Trump’s tweets, courts would not tolerate governments trying to dictate the free speech algorithms of private companies.

It is, however, important to note that President Trump’s comments can have a direct and fast effect on any countries / industries / businesses that he focuses on. For example, as well as shares of Alphabet falling 0.3% after Mr Trump’s accusations, President Trump’s warning against countries doing business with Iran forced the EU to bring in a blocking statute to protect EU firms and a means to allow EU businesses affected by the sanctions to sue the US administration.

Many see these latest comments as a continuation of President Trump’s criticism of news media coverage of him, a desire exert control over what’s being said, and as a way to apply more pressure to tech companies to clamp down on anything that could point to any foreign interference in and disruption of US politics, especially in the wake of accusations of Russian influence and Facebook being used to spread messages that may have affected the US election result. Facebook and Twitter have also been in the US administration’s firing line over accusations of removing content from some conservatives, and being called upon to remove conspiracy driven content and hate speech.

This is a war of words with economic consequences that is likely to continue.

Facebook Promptly Removes Mynamar Military Accounts

Posted on by Andy Miller

Facebook has reacted quickly and taken down many accounts of Myanmar’s military leaders after a damning UN report accused them of genocide and war crimes against the Muslim Rohingya population.

Removed

It has been reported that, following the release of the report, Facebook removed a total of 18 user accounts, and 52 pages associated with the Myanmar military. These are thought to include the page of its commander-in-chief.

All of the removed pages and accounts are thought to have had a total of almost 12 million followers.

The Situation, In Brief

The action by Facebook relates to the situation in Myanmar, formerly Burma, where approximately 25,000 Rohingya Muslims have been killed and an estimated 700,000 forced to flee to Bangladesh in over the past year. The blame for the alleged genocide has been placed firmly at the door of the Myanmar military, and the country’s leader and Nobel Prize winner, Ang San Suu Kyi, has been widely criticised for apparently failing to use her position as head of government, or her moral authority, to stop the persecution and violence in Rakhine state.

Facebook – Several Reasons

As well as the fact that the accounts relate to suspected war criminals, Facebook has several reasons to act quickly in taking down the accounts of military leaders and their associates, including the fact that:

– Facebook, by its own admission, had been too slow up until now in acting to remove posts aimed at stirring up and spreading hatred against the minority Muslim Rohingya population.

– Facebook is a very popular social network in Myanmar, and thus bad as well as good messages can be distributed widely and quickly using the platform.

– The Tatmadaw (the official name of the armed forces of Myanmar) has been using its official Facebook pages to discredit allegations of the crimes it has committed, and to stir-up further fears about the Rohingya. Also, the Tatmadaw are thought to have been using bogus independent news and opinion pages to covertly push their own messages.

– Facebook is very aware that it has been used as a means to influence political opinion and even election outcomes in some other countries i.e. alleged Russian use of Facebook in the US election. This has made Facebook anxious to stop this happening.

– The social network, along with other platforms, apps, and tech giants, has long been accused by many different governments of failing to act / failing to act quickly enough to remove hate speech and racist content.

– Facebook and other platforms have been threatened with regulation e.g. Ofcom in the UK, and Facebook is anxious to claw back much of the trust it lost in the Cambridge Analytica scandal, as well as getting some good publicity.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

Most businesses like to operate in and associate themselves with stable countries, particularly where they feel the government is trustworthy, and where the military don’t have too much power. The cost in human suffering in events and circumstances in Myanmar have been terrible, and this has also caused the economy to suffer, as its growth has slowed, it’s currency has dropped against the dollar, and as other countries and potential trading partners have tried to distance themselves from the current regime.

For Facebook, this has been a much-needed opportunity to present its positive side and show that it can and will act quickly to police its own network where it feels it has credible and conclusive evidence to do so, and to be able to justify its actions. This has been something that Facebook appears to have been much more keen to do lately e.g. in deleting 30+ pages and accounts attempting to influence the US midterm elections, and in removing 650+ fake Facebook accounts and pages, and pages designed to influence politics in US and the UK, as well as in the Middle East and Latin America.

The power and responsibility of social network platforms is now beginning to become apparent. Businesses are now major advertisers on social networks too, and as such, they need to ensure that they can reach the right audience in enough numbers and that their advertising doesn’t suffer from negative associations or being displayed next to content or posts that promote hatred.

Diabetes Eye Disease Diagnosing System Needs No Doctors

Posted on by Andy Miller

An AI system for diagnosing eye disease caused by diabetes that has been approved for use in the US works autonomously and doesn’t need a doctor to interpret its results.

New Way To Solve Old Problem

Diabetic retinopathy, a leading cause of blindness among adults, is caused by high blood sugar levels damaging the blood vessels of the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye / the retina. The condition affects up to eight out of 10 people who have had diabetes for 10 years or more.

Given the extent of the problem, Google and DeepMind are reported to have been working on building machine-learning algorithms for detecting diabetic retinopathy for some time.

The new AI-based device from Iowa diagnostics company IDx LLC is the first FDA-approved AI system for diagnosing this particular eye disease.

No Doctors Required For Diagnosis

The system can be used to spot the disease i.e. signs of mild diabetic retinopathy in scans of people’s retinas. This would normally be a job that would require human input, and as such, the new device is a first in eye care.

Although the system can diagnose the disease on its own, and therefore, doesn’t require a doctor’s input for diagnosis, it cannot recommend treatment plans, as this requires human doctors.

How Does It Work?

The system uses two convolutional neural networks.

The first one studies and analyses the image quality of retinal scans, from this it can determine if the focus, colour balance, and exposure are good enough to pass the photos to the diagnostic algorithm.

The second stage / network looks for common signs of damage related to the disease e.g. haemorrhages from burst blood vessels which may be caused by unstable blood sugar levels.

From these processes, the system is able to make a diagnosis.

How Accurate Is It?

Given the complicated nature of the medical condition, the accuracy of the system has been tested (using 900 subjects) in terms of its sensitivity, specificity and imageability. The device is reported to have scored 87% sensitivity i.e. identifying patients who have a mild version of the condition, 90% cent specificity i.e. indentifying those with no eye damage, and 96% imageability i.e. a high enough quality of image was generated to achieve a diagnosis.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

AI is being incorporated in more value adding and innovative ways to solve many problems across all industries and sectors, and as such, represents an opportunity for those businesses developing devices and systems with an AI element.

Not only does this device perform an important part of a service that hitherto required expert human input, it also frees up time that the human expert would have spent on diagnosis, thereby allowing valuable medical resources to be extended and allocated elsewhere. This demonstrates how AI can add value, save time / costs, and allow more leverage to be gained from existing services.

We already trust devices / machinery to handle many important aspects of medical care, and with this in mind, there should be no real reason to mistrust the accuracy and fitness for purpose of this system, particularly given that it has been tested, and that there will be human input at the treatment plan stage that may help to spot any errors.

AI in medical care represents an important step into the future that could bring some incredible benefits.

Uber Moves Into Bikes & Scooters

Posted on by Andy Miller

Ride-hailing service Uber, which has until recently been associated with cars, has announced a shift in focus towards bikes and scooters in order to drive growth and keep people using the platform.

The Challenges

Uber has faced a number of challenges in recent times, some of which have been of its own making. These challenges have included:

  • Congestion in inner-city areas (particularly in rush hour), the exact places where many of its customers use the service in large numbers to travel short distances. Uber itself has been accused by Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, of adding to city’s congestion problems. This has resulted in another challenge in that city for Uber – a suggested cap on the number of Uber drivers. New York has also voted to impose a temporary cap on new licences for ride-hailing vehicles in order to tackle congestion
  • Trouble over licences, the effect on revenue, and associated bad press. For example, Uber only has a 15-month provisional licence in London which was only granted on appeal this year.
  • The need to get the company into good financial shape before it is floated on the stock market, with a value of up to $70bn.
  • More bad press and potentially costly problems relating to Uber resisting court rulings giving employment rights to its drivers.
  • The opportunity of getting a substantial piece of the mobility market, but not being in the ideal position to do so.
  • The need to keep engagement of customers with the company / brand.
  • The need to drive growth in the longer term.

The Solution

The solution for Uber, according to its Boss Dara Khosrowshahi, is to diversify into bikes and scooters. The main reasons for this is that they will be more effective and efficient than cars in congested city areas, they represent a way to get another slice of the lucrative mobility market, and they can be used to help shape consumer behaviour and keep levels of engagement high.

How?

Uber has already also invested in electric scooter company Lime, invested in several bike firms over last year (including spending $200m on bike-sharing firm Jump), and added e-bikes to its app in some US cities. This has already enabled Uber to offer Jump electric bikes in eight US cities, including New York and Washington, and soon Berlin.

Playing The Longer Game

Uber has admitted that although the shift in focus will not bring short-term financial benefits, it should take the company nearer to where it wants to be in the longer term.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

This is an example of a business thinking with more strategic clarity, seeing their market as the whole ‘mobility market’, and finding a relatively simple solution for themselves to position themselves for a wider share of it through diversification, and in the meantime finding a way around some of the more immovable challenges e.g. congestion.

Uber has built a brand that has married new technology with existing technologies and services (mobile use and apps with car-hailing services), has experimented with future technologies e.g. driverless cars, but has also made the headlines for less positive reasons. Users of the service simply have a basic need to get from A to B as quickly, safely, and cheaply as possible, and bikes may well prove popular, as well as addressing some environmental concerns.

Tech Tip – Get Alexa In Windows 10

Posted on by Andy Miller

Many of us are used to using Amazon’s digital voice-activated assistant for all kinds of things at home. You can also use it via Windows 10 in the office. Here’s how:

Many new computers may come with the Alexa App pre-installed. Look for the Alexa app in the Start menu or type ‘Amazon Alexa’ in the Start menu Search bar.

If your computer doesn’t support hands-free access, click the Alexa icon at the bottom of the app to call up the voice assistant.

If you don’t have the Alexa App pre-installed on your computer, you can install it:

Ensure your PC is up to date and configured with US Language settings.

Download the Alexa app and follow the installation instructions – https://www.windowscentral.com/how-install-amazon-alexa-windows-10

To show the Alexa app all the time in your Windows 10 taskbar:

Go to Windows Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Select which icons appear on the taskbar and enable Alexa.

Superfast Broadband Boosts Business and Jobs

Posted on by Andy Miller

Among the findings of a recent government report about superfast broadband in the UK are claims that superfast broadband rollout so far has led to job creation and a £12.28 benefit for firms for every £1 invested by central and local authorities.

Measurable Benefits

The Evaluation of the Economic Impact and Public Value of the Superfast Broadband Programme report, by The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), covering 2012 to 2016, claims that the fact that superfast broadband has now reached almost five million homes and businesses (Openeach puts the figure at 10 million) has provided noticeable, measurable and business and economic benefits.

Fewer Jobseekers, More Jobs

For example, according to the report, superfast broadband has driven a reduction of almost 9,000 jobseekers allowance claims, and the creation of 49,000 local jobs.

What Is Superfast Broadband?

Superfast broadband refers to connections with broadband speeds of 24 megabits per second and above.

Where?

Superfast broadband is more available in some parts of the UK than others. For example, the highest rate of superfast broadband availability is in North East England (97.19%). Also offering high rates of superfast broadband availability are South East England (97.07%) and the West Midlands (96.56%).

Unfortunately, those who live and work in Northern Ireland are currently treated to the lowest rates of availability in the UK at 87.74%.

Boost

The growth in the levels of superfast broadband availability has been given a boost by factors such as Openreach, the firm that runs the vast majority of the UK’s telecoms infrastructure, reducing the wholesale price of broadband.

This is thought to have helped take-up for superfast and fibre broadband services by homes and businesses, and given competitors e.g. Sky and TalkTalk the opportunity to reduce the cost of using the network, provided that they can get enough sign-ups.

Back in March last year, Ofcom (the telecoms regulator) announced that BT has agreed to legally separate from Openreach, which owns and operates the UK’s broadband infrastructure. This move was intended to enable greater competition among broadband providers and greater investment in the network infrastructure.

Fibre

Fibre has offered greater broadband speeds and reliability, but at the moment, most connections have fibre-optic lines up to the local street cabinet, but then copper phone lines from the cabinet to the house.

The government says that its aim is to give all of the UK full-fibre broadband (fibre to and from the cabinet) – rather than rely on broadband delivered over copper networks, by 2033.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

Broadband is now an essential service for business, and businesses would obviously welcome any improvement in broadband speeds in the UK as it would undoubtedly help UK companies to become more competitive, and would boost the economy.
Unfortunately, while those who are able to benefit from superfast and (full) fibre broadband are clearly reaping the benefits, this is not the case in many areas of the UK. For example, in April this year, a survey by consumer watchdog ‘Which?’ has revealed that more than half of UK customers across 12 providers, are having problems with their broadband service or price.

Although this latest government announcement paints a positive picture of superfast broadband in the UK, the UK is now only at 35th place in the global average broadband speed league tables. This is because it has been too late in embracing a full-fibre solution – FTTP (fibre to the premises). Many critics have pointed to UK infrastructure provider Openreach shying away from FTTP because of the perceived costs and level of difficulty of large-scale rollouts.

For the time being then, UK businesses have to rely on the slower FTTC (fibre to the cabinet), and this has put UK businesses at a competitive disadvantage with businesses in many other European countries.

Major improvements to broadband speeds for UK businesses in most areas are still a long way off as the UK may only actually have 7% full fibre coverage by 2020, with full coverage unlikely for another 15+ years.