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The web is best for advice
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Consumers favour websites for broadband advice
Wednesday, 26 November 2008
Seamour Rathore Seamour.Rathore@consumerchoices.co.uk
Websites have taken over as the main source of advice about broadband services. Meanwhile there is a growing gap between those engaged with technology and those being left behind.
There has been a sharp increase in the number of people who trust websites as an information source on broadband, telephone services and digital TV, at the expense of information from service providers themselves or personal sources, such as friends and family.
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"Consumers are looking to websites for information and we expect this to grow in coming years"
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In the last year, 34% more people when unprompted, mentioned websites as a source for advice, according to new figures in The Consumer Experience Report published by communications regulator Ofcom (www.ofcom.org.uk/research) this week.
Ed Richards, chief executive of Ofcom said: “Consumers are looking to websites as a source of information – more than suppliers or personal sources – and we expect this to grow further in the coming years.”
The research also found, however, that there is a growing polarisation between people engaged with communications developments such as broadband and those who are being left behind.
The three groups that are least likely to have internet access at home are the over-75s, households with annual incomes of less than £11,500 and consumers in socio-economic group DE (those involved in manual labour or receiving state benefits as their main income), although take-up is growing among the latter group.
“Their ability to access information to enable them to participate in the economy and society is less than for the population as a whole,” said Richards. He added that Ofcom is planning to publish a framework for addressing access and inclusion issues early next year.
The report also found that increased take-up of broadband will be limited by a lack of growth in the figures for personal computer ownership. PC ownership has been steady at 70% of the population between 2006 and 2008. “If this continues it is likely to limit any further growth in the take-up of internet at home, which has remained at 65% for 2007 and 2008,” Ofcom noted.
The proportion of mobile-only homes (those who do not have a fixed-line telephone and other services) is increasing and has been driven by young consumers and those with an annual income of less than 17,000 a year, the Ofcom report also found.
Michael Phillips, BroadbandChoices.co.uk product director, said:.
“It’s great to hear that people are turning to websites to help them understand the broadband and telephony markets. As well as guides, expert counsel and updates on new products, good sites have accurate price comparison information to help consumers make the best choice for them.”
“It’s also important that there is universal access to the internet – both as an information source and as a way of getting the best price for services. That’s why BroadbandChoices.co.uk goes the extra mile to make its services user-friendly and is one of just two broadband price comparison websites to be accredited by Ofcom.”
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