UK Online is to augment its Premier Broadband package with the addition of Microsoft Exchange 2007 and web-hosting, as it seeks to corner the market for broadband for small businesses.

The new services will enable subscribers to access e-mail, contacts and calendar on their web browser for the package which is due to be available from March and will be priced at £24.99 per month.

Chris Stening, UK Online's managing director, said that business standard broadband was essential to modern companies but was only normally available to larger firms.

He said: "Many small businesses use consumer grade POP3 email which limits how and when they can access their email.

"More importantly, they run the risk of losing all their emails and contacts if their PC or laptop hardware fails. Microsoft Hosted Exchange is the best business-strength email there is. In today's business environment, a business quality, easy to manage professional email service is key."

The web hosting package Sitebuilder has been developed with Iomart and allows customers to build, host and maintain a professional quality website with a choice of 1,000 design templates.