Russell Nisbet, a member of Melbourne broadband roundtable Digital River, said that SMEs in older buildings grappled with multiple steps when trying to get broadband installed.
Nisbet said large multinationals had greater bargaining power than SMEs and mid-sized enterprises, which faced costs in setting up broadband infrastructure, or had to battle building owners to get this put in place.
"They're in a rut," Nisbet said. "[SMEs] can't communicate any differently than they're currently doing until they make that leap...[and they're] not making that leap into broadband because it hasn't been readily available and is perceived as too expensive."
Nisbet believes responsibility for overcoming SMEs reluctance to adopt broadband rests in many different hands. He points to the City of Melbourne's Digital Building Telecommunications Access Guideline as one of the initiatives he sees as being a step in the right direction.
The guideline was developed with property owners, building management and telecommunications carriers, according to Digital River's Web site. The idea behind it is to ensure commercial buildings are suitably equipped, and to provide information to increase availability and takeup of broadband services in Melbourne.
