Dorset businesses are demanding faster broadband by 2011.

That’s the conclusion of the Dorset Business Digital Taskforce survey from Dorset Chamber.

It found that 64 per cent require a connection speed of more than 10Mbps (megabits per second) and 86 per cent want to achieve this within the next 12 months.

Of those surveyed, 39 per cent currently receive between just one and 4Mbps on their broadband connection, while 31 per cent have from five to 8Mbps.

BT supplies broadband to 43 per cent of those questioned while Virgin provides 10 per cent.

Currently, 33 per cent pay up to £20 a month for broadband while 27 per cent pay up to £30 a month – the research found that most respondents don’t want to pay more than that.

Last year, the Dorset Chamber Council created the Digital Dorset Taskforce, to pursue the faster broadband project, initially with BT, which will install high capacity broadband to Portland in its role as a sponsor of the 2012 Olympic Games. Two fibre-optic cables are being laid to Portland and these will also serve Bournemouth and Poole.

The Digital Dorset Taskforce is led by Dr Monica Seeley of the Mesmo Consultancy in Bournemouth and includes Mike Wright, immediate past president of Dorset Chamber, Matthew Beaumont, Dorset Chamber multi-area agreement programme manager, Michel Hooper-Immins, secretary of Weymouth & Portland Chamber, and Bournemouth computer specialist Luke Williams.

Dr Seeley, who intends to ‘move this project along’ with telecom providers, said: “Fast broadband is vital for nearly every business which needs to transfer information electronically.

“If we cannot deliver affordable fast broadband, Dorset risks losing employers and micro-businesses. This will have an impact both on our economy and the calibre of business people who work in Dorset.”

Dorset Chamber chief executive Peter Scott added: “We must look beyond the now relatively short-term needs of the Olympics and help create a digital infrastructure that further boosts our competitiveness.”

Later in the year there will be a faster broadband trial with C4L, the Bourne-mouth internet provider, which says it could provide 10Mbps wireless broadband to some areas of Dorset for £30 a month.

BT says that 12 Dorset exchanges have already been upgraded: Boscombe, Bournemouth, Christchurch, Dorchester, Ferndown, Northbourne, Parkstone, Poole, Westbourne, Weymouth, Wimborne and Winton.