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A recent survey by Vodafone found that many Irish businesses are struggling to cope with recent disruptions and changing demands.
Vodafone Ireland has launched a new initiative to provide SMEs with free broadband and cybersecurity protection.
The initiative will cover all business broadband plans for six months for SMEs, with speeds from 100Mb to 2Gb. Businesses can also receive six months of free security tools and get access to Vodafone’s V-Hub, which provides advice on a range of areas.
Vodafone said the offering will be worth almost €900 for each business, with the total scheme being worth €900,000. It is available to both new and existing business customers.
This initiative has been launched alongside a new report from Vodafone, which found that many Irish businesses are struggling to cope with recent disruptions and changing demands.
The Fit for the Future study surveyed 250 Irish businesses. More than half of these labelled their performance when addressing top risks within their business as under-performing or average.
More than 30pc of Irish firms highlighted high-speed broadband as the top technology that would help support their business plans. Cybersecurity was the third highest priority among surveyed businesses to improve resilience.
Vodafone Ireland Business MD Sinead Bryan said the current climate is putting a lot of pressure on the Irish business community, particularly small and medium enterprises.
“We also know that technology adoption and digital transformation are crucial to their survival and will help them navigate challenging market forces and rising costs,” Bryan added.
“High-speed connectivity and cyber resilience are vital elements to enable SMEs digitally, so I am delighted to launch a range of supports to help businesses during this difficult period.”
SMEs that wish to avail of the new Vodafone initiative can do so on the company’s website.
Last month, Vodafone entered a wholesale network access deal with Virgin Media. This gives Vodafone customers across Ireland fixed-line broadband services through Virgin’s fibre network.
The company has also been looking to boost its security offering, launching a new product earlier this year to help broadband and mobile customers avoid online threats such as cyberattacks.
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