PCR Tech and IT retail, distribution and vendor news
Millions of Brits have experienced poor home internet connections over the past year.
According to a new survey from consumer action group Which?, 59 per cent of households have experienced issues. Of the 2000 people surveyed, nine in 10 to have experienced issues said that they felt ‘frustrated’ by them, with four in ten forced to stop what they were doing online.
Furthermore, three in ten of those affected said that their connectivity issues made it difficult to pay bills or use onling banking services, and 19 per cent said that their problems have negatively affected their financial situation.
Speaking of the findings, Dan Howdle, consumer telecoms analyst at Ofcom-accredited broadband advice site Cable.co.uk, said that the results are telling:
"That the majority of us experience some sort of internet issue within the space of a year is not entirely surprising. It is worth adding, however, that ‘problems’ as a general category vary greatly in severity, from the odd bit of Netflix buffering during peak periods, to full-blown local (or even national) outages.
"Depending on the severity of the problem, then, customers may be within their rights to switch to another provider. Ofcom rules offer a get-out clause if the provider has failed in providing an acceptable level of service.
"Just as consumers are required to meet monthly payments, providers are obliged to deliver the service we pay for – failure to do this is a breach of contract and may mean you can vote with your feet without fear of cancellation fees."
The survey is being used by Which? to launch a new free tool and campaign to help fix bad broadband.
Alex Neill, Which? managing director of home services, said: “With millions of us frustrated by? bad broadband and stopped from doing the simplest of online tasks, we have launched a new, free tool to help people improve their connection.
"There is nothing more annoying than your internet cutting out? when you’re streaming your favourite programme?, ?or ?when you’ve spent ages filling your online ?shopping? basket but your connection is too slow to get you to the checkout. ?Far too many people are experiencing problems with their broadband across the country and we want to help people to? fix ?it.”
