Why is internet for business more expensive than internet at home?

Why is internet for business more expensive than internet at home?

There are fewer and fewer businesses that do not use online access. The pandemic has caused even more companies to sell online. According to PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers), the value of the Polish e-commerce market will reach 162 billion zlotys in 2026. Currently, about 150,000 entities sell online. Even a company’s brief unavailability of the Internet can have costly consequences.

It’s not about days, hours and in many cases even minutes are enough. That’s why corporate Internet must work reliably. This is one of the factors that affect the higher cost of such a service relative to the offer aimed at individual customers.

Network for business vs. home internet

Looking through network access offers, you may notice that packages for residential customers are usually cheaper than those prepared for businesses. What determines this? An interruption in network access for an individual is most often associated mainly with annoyance. However, in the case of a company, it can mean a loss of even thousands of zlotys. Let’s assume that there is a widespread network unavailability. What happens then? Here are examples of services that may be affected by an interruption of Internet access:

• 911 and other emergency services,
• Banking – credit/debit transactions, cash withdrawals, banking app services, automatic bill payment,
• Mobile and landline telephony, including sending all text messages and communications,
• production,
• All social media interactions,
• Hospital functions, which include admission, patient portal access, testing, operations, billing,
• library operations,
• Schooling, including online lessons, portal updates.

In April 2022, Bankrate reported that 44% of bank customers used mobile banking apps to manage their accounts – making them the most common method of interaction with financial institutions. Lack of access to the web makes these services impossible to use, as well as banking offers in fixed branches of these institutions.

These are just some of the problems that can be caused by the inaccessibility of the Internet in companies. Therefore, such services for businesses require a special approach and scope.

Internet for business – what affects its price?

An entrepreneur should have specific requirements for the Internet. Knowing what maximum time of unavailability to the network he can afford, he has the opportunity to establish an SLA, or Service Level Agreement, with the provider. This refers to the guaranteed quality parameters of the link. Among them should be the time within which the company will remove failures. There is no method that gives 100 percent assurance of service continuity, while it is worth taking certain steps to minimize the risk of trouble. If you can’t afford any network outages in your company, then check out other options.

A step in this direction is to use two fiber-optic links, with independent IP nodes. However, this is an option associated with high costs. Betting on a different network access technology may also be a solution. Let’s assume that you have both fiber and, for example, wireless connections in your company. Then, in case of problems with the first option, the latter ensures that the company can do business. On the other hand, certainly, if you choose Internet for your business, you should always enter into a Service Level Agreement for such service. You need to be aware of the guaranteed parameters of the link and how long you will wait for repairs after a possible failure. Of course, the shorter the turnaround time for the work, the higher your subscription will have to be.

Link speed

The cost of network access service for a company is also affected by the expected speed. The higher it is, the higher the subscription. When choosing it, pay attention first of all to how many people will use the network and what kind of work will be done. 50 or 100 MB/s will be enough for a small company, but if there are more users, we recommend reaching for a package at ITH with a bandwidth of 1 GB/s, with five public IP addresses. The faster the Internet speed, the more efficiently you can work. Faster you can download a file, send it, upload it to the server. The better the bandwidth, the higher the cost, but most often it is worth it.

Installation

Businesses nowadays generally reach for fiber-optic connections, and this, of course, is definitely justified, as this option provides a stable connection and high speeds. On the other hand, it is often associated with the need to bring the connection to the property, carry out earthworks, drilling, undertake indoor activities. These are factors that also affect the cost of Internet use for businesses. At ITH, we do not charge an installation fee for annual Internet payments.

Network security

The data coming into and sent out by a company is often of great value, so ensuring the security of the link is a priority for business-directed offerings. Solutions that are responsible for monitoring incoming and outgoing traffic, filtering it and informing administrators of possible irregularities and dangers are important. Implementing such solutions also comes at a cost, but it is many times lower than the potential losses and problems that could occur without proper security.

The cost of Internet for business consists of many factors, while choosing a specially prepared offer is the only right step. Such a service should meet the requirements set by the business, and fine-tuning all these elements involves expenses.