Broadband News

Speed is the biggest problem for broadband customers

(29-01-08) - A quarter of all UK broadband customers are unhappy with their internet service, with speed coming top of their list of gripes, according to new research.

The survey commissioned by relative newcomer to the market O2 (www.O2.co.uk), showed that 80 per cent are also looking to switch broadband provider in the next three to six months - a move which could save them hundreds of pounds.

O2 also found that more than one million households were spending at least six hours setting up their broadband or trying to solve problems, with one in five having to contact their ISP at least three times to get issues resolved.

Although only half of the people questioned in the survey knew what their broadband speed was, almost a quarter of the respondents cited poor speed as the biggest source of their broadband frustrations.

Unsurprisingly, poor customer service also got a mention, with 20 per cent experiencing difficulties even getting through to their provider, and half having to call a premium rate number for technical support.

Michael Phillips, BroadbandChoices.co.uk product director, said: “The broadband industry has a bad image when it comes to customer satisfaction and providers faced a lot of criticisms last year over the way that they advertise their packages using the top, barely attainable speed.

“Consumers resent having to call a premium rate number to resolve a technical problem which could well be the ISPs fault. And with 20 per cent of people having to call their provider three times to solve an issue, the costs soon add up.

“ISPs like Virgin Media (www.VirginMedia.com) and Orange Broadband (www.Orange.co.uk) have been criticised for their premium rate tech lines costing 25p and 50p per minute respectively, and O2 has done well to listen to consumers and set up a free, UK-based technical support number, as well as trying to address some of the speed issues that broadband customers have.”

Related article - Download our free Broadband speed tester to see how your ISP performs.

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