Broadband Speed and Reliability Listed as Top UK Consumer Gripes for 2014

CANARY WHARF, U.K. - Dec. 29, 2014 - PRLog -- Hands up if you're happy with your broadband connection? According to a new survey conducted with 1,363 readers of the ISPreview.co.uk consumer information website, over half (65%) of respondents in the United Kingdom said they were unhappy with their current Internet provider (i.e. 35% said they were "happy") and 56% felt as if the quality of their broadband service had worsened during 2014 (30% said their service quality was unchanged and 14% felt it had improved).

Respondents to the survey were also asked about the various different aspects of their Internet service and which in particular made them least happy. Unsurprisingly the list is topped by several familiar bugbears, including dissatisfaction with broadband speed, reliability and customer support concerns.

Which aspect of your ISP makes you least happy?
Reliability - 28.3%
Speed - 24.9%
Support - 17.7%
Price - 14%
Nothing! - 9.4%
Other - 5.5%

The respondents were also asked whether or not they intended to switch ISP in 2015 and 46% said "Yes", with 32% saying "Maybe" and 22% answering "No". But it is important to stress that actual switching tends to be lower and indeed Ofcom's Consumer Experience 2013 report found that just 9% of consumers actually did swap their fixed line broadband and phone provider.

"In theory the new generation of 'super-fast' broadband connections should be delivering improved reliability and performance," said ISPreview.co.uk's Founder, Mark Jackson. "But we're still seeing problems with service speed, reliability and support topping the table of consumer gripes. On the other hand the 25% complaining about speed in 2014 is distinctly less than the 40% recorded when the same study was conducted at the end of 2012. On the flip side today's reliability gripes (28%) are up from the 17% recorded two years earlier and likewise dissatisfaction with customer support (18%) is also much higher than it was in 2013 (7%)."

"The best incentive to encourage improvement often comes from making it as easy as possible for consumers to switch providers and in that sense 2015, which will see Ofcom introduce a new migration system that among other things puts the power back into the hands of your new (gaining) ISP, could have a big impact upon the market and might encourage a greater focus on quality at underperforming providers," concluded Jackson.