The big broadband disconnect

The big broadband disconnect

Almost half of broadband users are unhappy with the service they receive from their internet service provider according to uSwitch, which last week named PlusNet as the UK's best overall provider and Orange as the worst.

Following a survey of nearly 11,000 broadband customers, the price comparison company says that around 4 million broadband users remain unhappy with their provider. It also says 44% of companies have fewer satisfied customers than they did last year.

A recent survey by BroadbandChoices.co.uk also named PlusNet as the best overall provider.

Broadband is used in around half of all UK homes, says uSwitch. While service speeds have risen and prices fallen, service standards have declined. The survey found there is now a 21% gap between the best and the worst broadband provider, a gap that has grown 8% in less than 12 months.

PlusNet, which has just 200,000 broadband customers, was bought by BT in November 2006. Around 86% of its customers were satisfied with the service they received, compared with only 65% of Orange customers.

PlusNet won nine out of 11 categories including best customer service and best technical support. Meanwhile, BT came last in value for money for the second time running. The UK's biggest ISP, with about 3 million broadband customers, was voted sixth overall.

Sky moved ahead of Virgin Media to take second place overall, with eight out of 10 customers satisfied. TalkTalk, which last year was.....continued below

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one of the worst providers, was the second most improved company after PlusNet. The survey found Orange, which claims half a million customers, has more than a third who are not satisfied with its overall service.

Orange has "slowly lost its sparkle" since the 83% score it achieved in 2006, says uSwitch. It is also the only company that seems to be losing customers. It reported a net loss of 4,000 customers in the last three months of 2007. The results show that satisfaction levels at Pipex have fallen from 72% a year ago to 68%.

According to uSwitch's Steve Weller, customer satisfaction with technical support remains low, with seven of the nine providers failing to satisfy more than half of their customers. Overall, almost 8 million customers are unhappy with the level of support on offer, he says.

"Last year, consumers spent £31m on phone calls trying to fix problems with their broadband, and over £11m of this was wasted on hold waiting to speak to someone. Since our last poll, TalkTalk has introduced a technical helpline number that is free to call from a TalkTalk landline, which could explain the sharp increase in its technical support score. However, it's still unacceptable that, when it comes to technical support, just two providers are managing to satisfy more than half of their customers," he says.

PlusNet's broadband packages start at £9.99 a month, although most users will want to go for its £14.99 deal which has a much higher (8Gb) monthly download limit. Users can switch their landline from BT and get unlimited phone calls - the whole package costs £30 a month. The same deal with Tiscali costs £20 a month, although its call centre is based in India.

guardian.co.uk © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2008