Internet Protocol (IP)-based networks are assuming greater strategic importance across the corporate and government sectors as organisations look to leverage their IP investments to enable greater productivity, flexibility and collaboration, according to the 2008 Optus IP Index released today.

The Index, which is based on a survey of 229 government and corporate organisations, found that almost two thirds (61 per cent) of respondents plan to expand their existing IP network by adding new sites in the next 12 months.

In addition, 68 per cent of respondents anticipate their bandwidth requirements will increase over the coming year. This will be driven by organisations who want to access their corporate applications remotely and video conferencing between sites, among other converged business applications.

"For a number of years now we have tracked the adoption and application of Internet Protocol technologies in Australia through the Optus IP Index. We believe the results of this year's Index confirm that an increasing number of organisations are implementing converged communications to drive greater collaboration and increase productivity," Rob Hacker, Director - Customer Solutions and Service, Optus Business said.

Workforce flexibility was one of the key themes of this year's report, with most enterprises now providing employees' access to their corporate network from home via broadband (84 per cent) and a range of other access types.

According to the research, wireless broadband is becoming increasingly popular as enterprises see the customer benefit of having an always-connected workforce. Wireless broadband access is expected to grow from 28 per cent today to 40 per cent in the next 12 months.

"Growth in the capabilities of 3G mobile networks and the ease of use of wireless broadband and new 3G devices has created a significant catalyst for change. We see many customers now building mobile and IP applications into their core business processes." Mr Hacker said.

Voice over IP (VoIP) technology has also experienced a dramatic increase, with 65 per cent of enterprises reporting that they are trialling or have deployed VoIP within their organisations compared to 45 per cent two years ago.

Once deployed, there are many benefits of VoIP, with cost, functionality and productivity among the most common, according to respondents. The survey also found that only 16 per cent of those surveyed have no plans to converge their voice and data networks, down from 30 per cent two years ago.

Robert Parcell, Chief Executive Officer, Alphawest said "With VoIP increasingly accepted as a mainstream proposition, we expect that the focus will turn to ways that VoIP technology can be used to deliver further benefits to the business and network users. We believe IP telephony as a driver for improving productivity will only increase, led by the adoption of unified communications."

For further information or to receive a copy of the 2008 Optus IP Index, please contact:
Elizabeth Greene
Optus Corporate Affairs
Tel: (02) 8082 1132