A survey by Pure Telecom claims that 53pc of respondents living in rural areas who are working from home are struggling with poor broadband.
As many people across the country continue to work from home, a new survey has suggested that people in rural areas may be at a disadvantage to due connectivity problems.
In the survey, commissioned by Pure Telecom, 53pc of 1,000 respondents working from home and living in rural locations said they are struggling with remote working due to issues around their location, such as poor broadband infrastructure.
A similar survey from Taxback.com published in September found that 51pc of 2,500 people in Ireland had experienced “technical issues” while remote working because of poor broadband, with people in rural areas being most affected.
The Pure Telecom survey suggested that those living in Connacht were most affected by broadband issues, with 44pc saying their location has had a negative impact on their work. In Dublin, one-third of respondents claimed to have broadband issues.
Almost one-third (32pc) of those working from home said they would like the flexibility to work from home occasionally post-Covid and 28pc said they would like to do so on a full-time basis.
Despite an appetite for maintaining remote work, 18pc of office workers who are currently working from home do not believe that their employer will give them the option. This figure rose to 26pc in rural areas.
“As workers nationwide confront the reality of Level 5 restrictions, any proposed return to office life will likely be delayed, meaning more and more workers will be logging in from home for the foreseeable future,” said Pure Telecom CEO Paul Connell.
“As such, it is crucial that all remote workers nationwide have access to reliable broadband infrastructure to ensure their home working is as seamless and as productive as possible.”
In October, Pure Telecom signed a €10m deal with BT to gain access to Siro’s nationwide fibre broadband network. The telecoms firm said it has seen a 30pc increase in demand for its broadband services since the pandemic began.
