Many UK businesses still access the internet via a dial-up connection, according to a new report.

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) is calling on the government to rethink its broadband strategy in light of this, stating: "If small businesses are to thrive and prosper and contribute to a growing economy, they need universal access to what is now considered the fourth utility."

Its report found 45,000 firms in Britain are still using dial-up, something that chairman of the organisation John Allan called "unacceptable".

In addition, just 15 per cent of companies said they were satisfied with their current broadband connection, despite 94 per cent believing this to be crucial to their organisation's success.

Therefore, the FSB wants the government to roll out loading speeds of at least 10Mbps to all residential and commercial properties by 2017, with this increasing to 1Gbps by 2030.

While this may take some time to action, the FSB would like to see fibre broadband delivered to all business parks throughout the country as an initial priority.

However, on a long-term basis, it believes reform of the market and a more ambitious rollout strategy is needed to provide an adequate service to all homes and businesses.

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