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Virgin Media customers feel they're
getting a better deal
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Customers think Virgin Media is the fastest
Garnet Roach garnet@consumerchoices.co.uk
Cable provider Virgin Media has topped a survey that rates providers on the speeds their customers believe they are actually getting (15-10-08).
Virgin Media (www.VirginMedia.com) now tops the poll and “along with Tiscali (www.Tiscali.co.uk) and BT (www.BT.com) shows considerable improvement in its promises versus its delivery,” said Point Topic.
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"Consumers still regard speed as a key benchmark of their ISP experience"
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Sky Broadband (www.Sky.com) was the only major ISP to show a drop since the last survey in January 2008. The report noted that “the damage to Sky seems to be mostly in its 8Mb and 16Mb packages, where take-up has increased but reported delivery speeds have decreased in proportion”.
The research showed that customers with packages offering speeds of up to 16Mb believe that they are getting closer to their advertised speed, while the number of people who felt they were achieving close to their advertised speed on over 20Mb packages fell since the survey was last conducted six months ago.
Commenting on the new wave of up to 24Mb packages that have been emerging since the launch of BT’s 21 Century Network, Point Topic said: “Over 20Mb is where the ADSL2+ and cable packages start to increase their significance.
“Indications from responses are that cable experience is moving closer to the advertised speed while the high speed DSL experience, as expected, tails off as the limits of the technology approach.
“Consumers still regard speed as a key benchmark of their ISP experience and are less likely to leave an ISP that lives up to expectations. It can be dangerous to promise more than can be delivered and operators appear, for the most part, to be taking this to heart,” the research concluded.
Michael Phillips, BroadbandChoices.co.uk product director, said: “Despite the ‘up to’ clause in broadband advertising, many consumers feel cheated when they receive significantly lower than their advertised speed, so it’s great to see that ISPs are working hard to improve their customers’ experience.
“If you are experiencing snail-pace broadband, talk to your provider to see if there’s anything they can do to speed things up,” he advised. “There’s also a whole host of things you can do to try to improve your speed from ensuring that your wireless connection is secure to installing an iPlate.
“If you’re still unhappy with your speed, compare broadband providers and switch. As well as getting you a better service you could also save up to £150 a year,” he concluded.
Related article - Boost your broadband speed.
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