More than one-in-three (35%) homeowners in London are unhappy with the customer service they receive from their broadband provider and 16% are dissatisfied with the speed of their broadband service, according to a survey carried out by broadband comparison website, Top10.com.
According to broadband speed tests carried out by London homeowners using the Top10.com StreetStats tool, the average download speed varies widely across London postcodes, ranging from less than 1Mb to more than 10Mb. This compares to the average broadband speed across the whole of the UK of 6.21Mb.
With the Government recently outlining plans for everyone to have access to super-fast broadband by 2015, and stating that its aim is for the UK to have the best broadband network in Europe, these figures suggest that the dream is still a fair way off at the moment for home broadband users in London.
The survey of broadband users also revealed that 22% of those London homeowners polled are dissatisfied with the reliability of their broadband service, which will come as a blow to the broadband providers, who have worked hard to improve their services in recent years.
However, despite many consumers feeling dissatisfied about the broadband service they receive, many have not done anything about it. Unlike mobile phones, where consumers are used to switching on a regular basis, that is often not the case with home broadband. This is supported by the poll results.
According to the survey, 50% of home broadband users in London have never switched service providers. Of those who have, the most common reasons cited for switching are unhappiness with the current service provider, they have found cheaper deal elsewhere or they have seen an appealing special offer from another provider.
And for those broadband customers in London who have switched to save money, one-in-ten have saved between £11 and £20 per month by shopping around, which equates to a saving of between £120 and £200 a year.
Alex Buttle, director, broadband comparison website Top10.com, comments: “Although broadband providers have made considerable headway in the past 12 months, increasing average download speeds and improving reliability, the results of this poll show that many people in London are still not happy when it comes to all aspects of their broadband connection.
“The broadband marketplace is highly competitive, and consumers should benefit over the next few years with improvements in connection speed and overall service quality across the board. However, at the moment more than a third of people we polled in London were dissatisfied with their provider’s customer service.
“There is no room for a second class service and consumers don’t have to stay with a broadband provider if they’re not completely satisfied. What they need to do if they’re not happy with any aspect of their broadband service is take the first step and shop around for the best deals in their area.”
