As small businesses develop and advance in their usage of information technology, their communications needs with continue to evolve.
Carriers are currently small businesses gateway to the rest of the world.
Local and long distance, voice and data, meld together onto one multi-serviced fat pipe, carriers will be challenged to construct viable value added bundles that go far beyond traditional transport access. They are uncertain how the Internet will provide real value to their business other than as a source of information. They are uncertain which type of company will help them leverage the power of the Internet best, though they favor traditional service providers like local and long distance carriers. As service providers perfect their multi-service offerings on their broadband, integrated platforms, these vendors will be challenged with developing this market and quelling their fears. The challenge moving forward for offering integrated access to small business isn t technology, its perceptions.