Ofcom panel slammed over 'tech-illiterate' claims

Small businesses have slammed the independent consumer panel set up by communications regulator Ofcom over a report last week that portrays them as ill-informed about technology and the internet.

The Ofcom consumer panel survey of 300 small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) claimed most were baffled by telecommunications terminology such as 3G, Wi-Fi and voice over IP and that less then half have any internet access.

But the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has hit back saying the report focused only on four vertical sectors leading to a skewed picture of the use of IT by small organisations.

The FSB points to its own survey of 18,000 members last year that found four out of five small businesses were connected to the internet, with a quarter using broadband.

FSB IT chairman Pete Scargill said the main issue for small businesses is not the latest mobile buzzword but reliable and user-friendly IT.

"Ofcom paints a bleak picture of small firms' fumbling in the dark when it comes to IT. But that is hardly surprising when it focuses on a limited number of small businesses and quizzes them on technical concepts such as 3G and Wi-Fi," he said in a statement.

Scargill said the reality is that the internet is changing the way small firms communicate, with the overwhelming majority connected to the internet and more than half having their own website.