Spending on comms firm - faith in broadband and 3G shaky

NEWS The average amount UK businesses spend on communications and IT is rising healthily, but there are still question marks over broadband and future 3G take-up. These are two of the headline findings from the tenth annual Communications Management Association (CMA) survey of IT bosses. Judged on responses from 422 professionals in the public and private sectors, average expenditure per organisation has increased from £7.1m in 2001 to £9.1m this year, which flies in the face of anecdotal evidence that the market has shrunk. The main beneficiaries include BT, which after six years of retrenchment has held its position in the fixed line telecoms market. Fifty-six per cent of all organisations spend money in this area with the telco. In the mobile space, Orange may claim to be the UK's biggest operator - it is, in terms of individual users - but Vodafone and O2 take the top positions for money spent with shares of 36 and 30 per cent respectively. Orange, however, was rated best for quality of service. Two of the depressing figures concern broadband uptake (78 per cent of respondents think the government should make broadband universal access a reality) and 3G, with 47 per cent saying it will be redundant before networks are up and running. The 3G killer is thought to be Wi-Fi - 34 per cent consider it a real alternative to 3G. Other areas which IT bosses put at the top of their agendas include web services - two-thirds now regard the trend as central to their company's strategy - and security. While critical of BT, Oftel and the government, CMA chairman Carolyn Kimber said the findings confirm "investment in communications will recover and grow simply because communication is central to all aspects of our society and business". The survey was carried out for the CMA by Total Romtec. TMA2002, CMA's annual trade show, takes place in Brighton, 21-23 October.