Conventional Broadband or Fibre Optic? That is the Question…

Posted on July 18, 2016 Updated on July 13, 2016

There are many factors to consider when choosing an office space. The most obvious include location and accessibility to public transit, highways or the airport; square footage of the office space; the layout of the office space and its conduciveness to a company’s business needs—just to name a few. However, with more and more businesses utilizing the internet and telecommunications for social media marketing, video conferencing and other day to day online business activities, another factor companies should be taken into consideration when considering a new office space is the location’s communications infrastructure—more specifically, whether the infrastructure is conventional broadband or fibre optic.

The bottomline differences between conventional broadband and fibre optic are in the cost, safety and resulting productivity. Businesses that are heavily dependent on telecommunications and internet usage would want their office space to be wired throughout with fibre optic cabling because of its higher transmitting or carrying capacity (1G vs 200Mb – literally five times faster than conventional broadband), signal reliability (i.e. less signal interference or degradation compared to that of conventional broadband due to dedicated fibre optic strands per signal or data transmission), and it is less of a fire hazard than that of conventional copper-wired broadband. These features translate into lower operational costs in the long term and higher revenues due to more captures (or less missed) of business opportunities.

Of course, companies should not feel at a disadvantage if the office space being considered has a conventional broadband infrastructure. High speed and relatively high carrying capacities are still available with a conventional broadband infrastructure which could still prove sufficient depending on a business’ operational demands. Besides, conventional broadband infrastructures are more readily available in most locations than would be the fibre optic infrastructure, though that could change in the near future.

So, if your company is in the market for a new office space, ask the real estate representative or landlord about the location’s communication infracture. The response, whether fibre optic or conventional broadband, could help determine the competitive edge your company could have in the marketplace.

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DJ Mcgauley and Associates Inc. is your Office Space Planning, Renovations and Relocation Project Management Company of choice. If a renovation or relocation of your office space is in your plans, please contact us to arrange a no-obligation site meeting. By the end of that meeting, you will know all that would be required to make your office renovation/relocation project a successful reality.

Call 416-239-1931, email [email protected] or visit our website for more information and to complete our contact form.

References:

McLean, Steve, Property Biz Canada, june 29, 2016, “Fibre Optic Should Be A factor in Choosing offices” http://renx.ca/fibre-optic-factor-choosing-offices/

Freudenrich, Craig, TECH, Advantages of Fiber Optics, http://computer.howstuffworks.com/fiber-optic4.htm

Braithwaite, Matilda, Broadband Choice, Cable vs Fiber Optic Broadband: What’s th difference?, https://www.broadbandchoices.co.uk/ask-our-expert/cable-vs-fibre