Optus recently conducted research that revealed that half of the Australian construction companies plan to procure more mobile phones. In parallel to this, nearly a quarter of these construction companies plan to invest in dependable telecom networks in the next 12 months.

The research is composed of a survey that explored the priorities of construction companies as they get back on their feet from being hit by the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy. The survey showed that 50% of businesses are looking to invest in mobile phones in the next 12 months. 47% of these devices are revealed to be laptops, 27% of which are tablets while 14% are for mobile broadband solutions.

Apart from these devices, another priority of most companies is investing in network infrastructure and services. Based on the survey results, 23% of respondents plan to invest in the procurement of dependable networks.

According to the respondents, these resources are necessary to achieve their business goals for the next 12 months or the coming year rebounding from the pandemic. Aside from achieving their business goals, the survey revealed that for 19% of the respondents, a dependable network will allow them to have a greater ability to work from home. 18% of the respondents said that a reliable network will pave the way for cheaper telecom services while according to 10% of the respondents, improved cybersecurity is the result of acquiring a dependable network. Overall, secure, affordable, and high-capacity networks will most likely be the key to fulfilling these requirements.

On the other hand, the adoption rates for new technologies depend on the size of the company. The research conducted by Optus revealed that 815 of companies with staff that are four or less and 62% of companies with 5-19 employees use only the bare minimum technology needed for the business to operate. For businesses with 20 to less than 200 staff workers, the rate falls to 38% while it is only 23% for larger businesses with more than 200 staff workers.

However, even among companies with fewer than 20 employees, 75% of the staff workers have a positive sentiment towards the introduction of new technology into the business.
The growing concern over cybersecurity is also a significant factor in the investment decisions of construction businesses. This can be attributed to the fact that according to the survey, only 47% of businesses have cyber defence measures in space, albeit 30% of larger businesses with over 200 staff have already reported experiencing attacks.