Consumers unhappy with broadband speeds

14 July 2008

Over 25% unhappy with their broadband service

According to a survey conducted by uSwitch.com, over 25 per cent of all broadband customers in the UK are unhappy with the service they are offered by their current provider.

The results of the survey indicated that customers where mainly unhappy about their broadband connection speed, which they perceive to be a lot slower that what was advertised.

uSwitch also discovered that many customers were only receiving 4MB on an “up to 8Mb” broadband package.

The price-comparison site blamed the slow speeds on the current broadband infrastructure operating in the UK. Currently, a large number of UK homes receive their broadband service though a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) which sends the signal though copper wire.

However, copper is unfortunately not the best conductor available and so the further away a user lives from the telephone exchange to which they are connected, the weaker the signal they receive. This in turn means that the connection is also slower.

Steve Weller from uSwitch said: “Consumers have had enough of paying for services they do not receive. It’s time for the Government to take hold of the reins and invest in upgrading the UK’s broadband infrastructure.”