What are UK consumers saying about broadband quality online?

1. UK Home Broadband
Social Media Monitoring
Prepared by: Metro Research

2. Active Listening to social media channels
What have we been
listening to?
 Blogs
 Online news
 Customers discussions on
forums
 Consumers’ comments posted
as responses to broadband –
related articles
Twitter
 Facebook groups
Why?
“The key value of social media lies in finding out the questions being
asked, as opposed to the actual answers”
(B2B Marketing, September 2010)

3. Social media channels we’ve monitored
Technology Blogs
 www.silicon.com
Online news  www.broadbandwatcher.co.uk
 The Guardian  www.itpro.co.uk
(www.guardian.co.uk/technology)  www.telecoms.com
 BBC news (www.bbcnews.co.uk/technology)  www.eapdlaw.com
 The Telegraph  www.ispreview.co.uk
 The Independent  www.cable.co.uk
Yahoo Finance  www.tech.slashdot.org
 Which? Consumer magazine  www.bit-tech.net
 www.psfbuzz.org.uk
 www.techwatch.co.uk
 www.fixmybroadband.co.uk
 www.talkatif.com
 www.telconews.com
 www.computerweekly.com
Forums  www.neowin.com
 www.ukbroadbandforum.co.uk  www.broadbandfinder.co.uk
 www.thinkbroadband.com  www.thinkbroadband.com
 www.broadbandwatchdog.co.uk  www.thenextweb.com
 Twitter
 www.broadbandbanter.co.uk  www.wired.co.uk
 Facebook groups
 www.community.plus.net/forum
 LinkedIn updates
 www.orangeproblems.co.uk
 www.community.virginmedia.com
 www.skyuser.co.uk
 www.talktalkmembers.co.uk/forums
 www.forum.o2.co.uk
 www.community.bt.com

4. Key Objectives
 To understand consumers’ perceptions
of connectivity and expectations of
broadband service and communications
 To provide us with a better understanding
of contextual factors that could impact on
consumers’ broadband perceptions and
decision making
 To have an overall picture* of most
frequent connectivity issues that consumers
complain about and identify the language
they use to describe them
*This was not intended to be a quantitative analysis looking at number
of mentions of a certain issue / broadband provider, but a qualitative
analysis of key issues expressed by consumers
N.B The key limitation of social media is that these channels often only
reflect the web savvy and the opinionated (so most of consumers’
comments are negative) – therefore there is an inherent bias.

5. Context is everything

6. In the news, July 2011
 The latest report published by Ofcom on 27 July 2011 was by far the key
news in the industry (results were published in all major UK news sources
and key technology & telecoms specialist blogs, or tweeted by a vast amount
of consumers)
KEY TAKE-OUTS:
 Over 75% of UK home broadband connections are currently delivered by
copper lines (speeds vary according to distance from exchange)
 The average advertised broadband speed in the Uk is 15Kbps, however the
average achieved speed is about half, 8.2 Kbps
 The gap between advertised speeds and actual speeds widened from the last
Ofcom study in 2010
 Another Ofcom study looking at
 Almost half of UK residential customers are on packages with advertised
customer satisfaction of telecom speeds above 10 Mbps
providers was published in July 2011.  However superfast broadband is available to about half of customers in the
This showed that: UK; moreover, the gaps between advertised and actual speeds for superfast
 About a quarter of TalkTalk’s customers connections are not as significant as for copper lines connections (e.g Virgin
were dissatisfied with the customer service Media up to 50 Mbps; BT Infinity up to 40 Mbps)
 Other reasons for overall consumers’  Download speed is the main performance measure by which broadband
dissatisfaction were: speeds; difficulty of services are advertised; however there are other criteria, like upload speeds for
changing tariffs; unexpectedly high bills
example, which are important especially for users of Skype or other real time
 Top 2 providers in terms of customer
video communications
service levels were Orange and BSkyB
 Limitations of this study: small providers  Ofcom continue to be concerned by the fact that customers are being misled
(with less than 4% market share) were by advertised ‘up to’ speeds, and have recommended to the ASA that ISPs
excluded include ‘typical speeds range’ (TSR) data in their marketing. The revised Code of
 A similar study by Broadbandchoice conducted Practice for broadband speeds is also effective from today and includes an
earlier this year suggested that BE Broadband, O2 amendment which allows customers “to leave their provider without penalty if
and Plusnet provided the highest levels of customer they receive a maximum line speed which is significantly lower than the bottom
care in 2011 of the estimated range, and ISPs are not able to resolve the problem.”

7. In the news, July 2011 (2)
 New Ofcom rules will lead to lower prices for UK rural broadband
The independent regulator plans to significantly reduce the prices that BT Wholesale
can charge ISPs in rural and less densely populated areas. By cutting prices by 12
percent below inflation per year, providers won't have to pay as much to borrow BT's
networks and exchanges. However this price reduction only refers to up to 8Mbps
connections, not the 24 Mbps and superfast, fibre optic services.
 At the same time, the UK Government is planning to fund broadband
upgrades in cities (high speed connectivity – over 24Mbps speeds - to be brought in
most communities in the UK by 2015)
 BT copper broadband upgrade now hitting 2.5 mil extra homes and
businesses; up to 20 Mbps service will reach 90 % of UK premises by 2013
 rollout will reach 800 extra exchanges, half of each will be located in rural
areas
 BT is also investing £2.5 mil in next generation superfast broadband
 Virgin Media announced that it has completed a successful trial
delivering speeds of 1.5Gpbs over its existing cable infrastructure. The trial
was conducted on a single road in London (Old Street), part of an area that has been
dubbed the ‘Silicon Roundabout’ by members of the local tech community known as
the ‘TechHub’. The demonstration was just a showcase and will not be a consumer
reality anytime soon, but the speeds were achieved by bonding together multiple
downstream and upstream channels of Virgin’s DOCSIS 3.0 cable network
 Virgin Media plans to rollout a free WiFi service in London, competing
against BTs OpenZone; the achievable speeds are supposed to reach 10
Mbps

8. In the news, July 2011 (3)
 A map showing connectivity strength was published by Ofcom in July
2011, identifying Hull as the area with the slowest broadband speed in
the UK.
 According to The Guardian, the current broadband market shares are
as follows:
 BT 29%
 Virgin Media 21.5%
 TalkTalk 21%
 Sky 16%
 Orange 3.6%
 O2 3.5%
 Based on the figures after the second quarter, BT and BSkyB lead the
battle – having the highest numbers of new subscribers amongst all
major UK ISP providers
 BT acquired 141,000 subscribers in the last 3 months (which accounted for
60% of all new customers in the quarter)
 Virgin Media lost 18,600 customers
 TalkTalk lost 27,000 customers. However a slight improvement in TalkTalk’s
customer service was reported this quarter: calls to helplines have halved, and
75% of new customers were connected within 20 days
 TalkTalk has been unable to attract many of its customers onto their
new up to 40Mbps Fibre Boost service
 1,000 take-ups at the end of the second quarter, compared to 4,000+ new
subscriptions per week reported by main competitor BT Infinity

9. In the news, July 2011 (4)
RELATED TRENDS:
 Over 3 mil UK households rely on mobile broadband for Internet,
according to research conducted by Ofcom between September and
December 2010
 7% of UK households use mobile devices exclusively to connect to the
Internet
 17% of UK households use mobile broadband at home, instead of fixed
broadband connections
 The average speeds achieved via mobile broadband connections are 1.5
Mbps, as opposed to an average of just under 7 Mbps for fixed connections
 New ways to watch film and TV: increased popularity of online
streaming and video on demand services (BBC iPlayer, movies
downloaded from Playstation3, iTunes, lovefilm.com)
 BT was ordered to block customers’ access to the so-called piracy website
Newzbin
 Similar pressures from copyright associations and regulators are likely to
affect other internet providers
BROADBAND ADVERTISING
 Virgin Media was recently told by the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority not to run 10 adverts again after upholding complaints from
rivals over the accuracy of claims in the ads. In one ad Virgin claimed that its service was twice as fast as that of rival BT’s but the ASA
agreed that this did not take into accounts BT’s faster Infinity service. BT Infinity and Virgin Media’s service are hybrid optical networks –
fibre optic to a local cabinet with coaxial and copper from there to the premises.
 Similarly, TalkTalk’s saving claims in one of its adverts were considered ‘exaggerated, misleading and unsubstantiated’, according to the
advertising regulator. The advert was likely to lead customers of TalkTalk's competitors to think that they would definitely save more than
£140 by switching their phone and broadband services to TalkTalk, the ASA said. This overstated the benefits of switching provider and
broke broadcast advertising rules, the advertising regulator said;

10. More in depth
Beyond background research and news published on news sites or
specialist blogs, we looked at the ‘voice of the customer’ online,
expressed on forums and discussions posted as a result of some
broadband – related articles.

11. The overall picture
 No major differences between various providers; for most
customers the issues were similar, no matter of what provider
they were with
 It is difficult to separate connectivity issues from customer
service, as most of the times issues are reported to Customer
Service operators. Therefore the perception they have of the
technical fault is either made worse by a poor customer service
experience, or attenuated because of a good performance of
the call centre or technical helpline
 Most of the comments are negative – but we need to bear in
mind that frustrations rather than positive experiences are
generally expressed through online conversations

12. What are
consumers
talking about
on forums?
Three key areas:
 Connection
 Customer
support
 Billing issues

13. Connectivity Frustrations
“Broadband speeds are a postcode lottery”
(consumer complaining on ukbroadbandforum.co.uk)
 Slow speeds: it gets really frustrating for consumers paying for ‘up to 10
Mbps’ packages and getting less then 2 Mbps
 confusion around providers’ promises, given that consumers are aware
of the fact that actual speeds depend on the quality of the line and
distance from the exchange (Why are competitors offering better speeds,
if the line’s capacity is limited?)
 Speed inconsistency; drop-outs
 Traffic management (especially during peak times)
Some more tech savvy consumers are aware that this might not
happen with business providers (Zen, Eclipse have been mentioned) –
but are not ready to pay a higher price
 Video streaming problems (frustrating for online TV users, gamers and heavy
Skype users)
 Consistency of connection (no drop-outs) as well as unlimited downloads are
even more important for home workers
 Fibre optic developments have certainly raised consumers’ expectations
 More tolerance from people living in rural areas, as there is less choice
 However London based users (and major UK cities) get extremely
frustrated when they check the speeds regularly (using various online
speed checking applications) and these don’t go much higher than dial-
ups connections used years ago

14. Connectivity Frustrations – in their own words...
It seems to take forever to actually connect when
switched on - I've taken to switching on and going
away to read the paper and have a cup of coffee
whilst it decides to connect - or not.
Broadband connection
drops sporadically. Some It disconnects every morning approx 5 times
days it'll be fine and when I attempt to use internet for the first
stable, but others it's time. Then again approx 4 times when my boy
flakey - for instance it's connects Xbox 360 in the early evening, and
dropped 3 times today finally disconnects in the evening when I try and
already. read emails. When I start to use the internet it
crashes.
When I use Skype the video is very blocky I'm currently with Be. I pay
and freezes sometimes. Skype reports for their ‘up to 20Mb/s’
that my connection is bad and suggests I service and actually get a sync
turn off video but my son and grandson speed of 5Mb/s.
live in Australia so Skype is an essential
application for me and my wife.
We now only get link speeds of ~800kbps
down / ~800kbps up however we no longer
Over a 3 month period the fastest we ever got suffer from drop outs. So it would seem that
was 0.28mb up and 0.45mb down - about the while up to 2mbps is possible down the line,
same speed as I had 10 years ago in the max stable speed is less than half of that!
Cambridgeshire with an ASDL line.

15. Connectivity: key words
Connection Speed dips
Service went keeps
down cutting off
Constant loss
Internet is non of connection
Speed responsive
drops
Connection
Line drop-out crashing
Fluctuating
speed Intermittent
speed

16. Customer Services
 Whenever consumers complain about customer
services, the first thing they mention is related to
the fact that they’re not based in the UK.
 Besides the language barriers, there are other issues regarding foreign
call centres: operators’ attitude (perceived as rather ‘aggressive’; it
seems they don’t care enough about UK based consumers); it feels they
have no real understanding of the UK consumer base and broadband;
they do not enough authority to solve issues quickly)
 Other issues with customer service, regardless of
where they are based are: Other important areas where
 difficult to go through, long waiting times
 operators focus more on going through scripts, as opposed to dealing
issues seem to arise are:
with the actual problem and offering a bespoke solution  set-up: takes too long; engineers fail to show
 being passed on to various operators (and having to explain the issue up within the agreed time slots; providers are not
every time consumers get connected to another operator); more always able to manage the switchover smoothly,
frustrating when customers get contradicting information from various so customers get ‘caught’ without an Internet
operators connection and between two providers blaming
 nobody being able to take responsibility for issues; constantly blaming each other
issues on either the quality of PCs, routers which have been purchased  whenever fixing a technical fault involves having
from other sources than the provider, BT lines or engineers etc. an engineer being sent to the house, the time it
 sales and marketing calls at ‘odd’ times of the day (either late in the takes to do that is not acceptable (24 hours is
evening or during weekends); also sales operators are not aware of usage expected)
patterns of the account holder and try to sell services which are not  also, consumers get frustrated whenever they’re
relevant; moreover, there have been situations in which some customers supposed to be called back for follow-up on
have had new services added on their account without acknowledging issues, and this doesn’t happen
they have signed up for anything

17. Customer Service Frustrations – in their own words...
Just had to contact my ISP for a MAC code and it's taken a total of 1hour and 12
mins to get anywhere (they cut me off twice after 20 odd minutes of waiting). Even
now they can't give me this damn code over the phone...I have to wait for them to
email it!
I'm just pretty annoyed with the shambolic O2 customer services can't agree on this
service (so called) each time I phone them one. I've been told by one lady that I can
they seem to milk you for every penny they cancel using the happiness guarantee and by
can get. Never get a straight answer and two gentlemen that I am outside of my 14
you are always put on hold.....and that’s day cooling off period as my change of
after going through endless daft menus. broadband was classed as an upgrade. If
O2 customer services don't know which
Avoid BT for BB. Their support applies what chance have I got?
is a total disaster
I received no help from their so called tec's, all based in India by the way, and very few speaking English and as far
as I am concerned none of them had any IT knowledge. I had five months of hell with them having my broadband
and phone cut off on a regular period for no reason and then having to go through procedure after procedure just
to hang on the line for 45 Min's to either again being cut off or ending up speaking to a lady in Katmando who's no
WAS PRIVATE.
I ditched BT as their customer service
was terrible and it is helpful if you can at I just wanted to sound a word of caution to
least understand what they are saying to anyone who might be thinking of ordering BT's
you 'Infinity' high speed broadband product. You
may find that you're waiting a long, long time
for them to get round to installing it, or that
you'll take time off work to meet an engineer
who doesn't turn up, perhaps more than once.

18. Billing issues
 Billing inaccuracies are another ‘hot topic’ debated on online forums
 Consumers generally mention the following as the most frequent
frustrating situations:
 unexpectedly high bills due to a lack of transparency in explaining the
pricing before signing up (e.g no unlimited downloads)
 one – off fees when signing up for an additional service with the same
provider
 difficulty in cancelling direct debits and still receiving bills after switching
providers
 Most often billing issues seem to appear when:
 switching providers
 moving home
 adding new services or changing existing services on the account
 Beyond the frustration of receiving an unexpected bill, there are other
things aggravating the overall experience:
 providers not being able to acknowledge their mistakes and sort things out
quickly (so customers need to chase)
 a feeling of being ‘tricked’ into signing up for a service without having a full
awareness of all the extra charges incurred

19. Billing Issues– in their own words...
To my horror and bemusement there was a Direct Debit withdrawal of £30.63
recurring on or around the 27th of each month, even though I had cancelled my
contract for two months. I had spoken to someone in billing and that they had
conceded their had been a problem with their cancellation system - something to
do with it being on an older system.
£13 a month and that was it. What I didn't understand and what they
didn't have to explain were the streaming charges. In the end, for
skyping around 2 min. with my husband cost us £60.00.
I phoned Sky, informed them of the problem and was
Even though my daughter cancelled her direct debit with TalkTalk
assured that my bill would be amended after 3 days. It
and with her bank, TalkTalk still took a penalisation fee and refuse
wasn‘t, phoned twice more and was given the same
to repay it even though the contract had run longer than the
assurances. Three times I told them my bill was wrong, minimum time the contract stipulated. They refuse to co-operate,
three times they agreed, three times they assured me it and it takes months and months of hassle to get Ofcom (or
would be amended, yet they willingly took money from whoever) to do anything to help.
my account and nothing was done
I cancelled my contract with Virgin in Nov 2010. I am still getting bills from
them despite numerous phone calls & letters
They never pass on information keep you on hold for ever then you get put
through to a different person & have to relay all your information again
costing you money

20. Communications
Advertising based on “up to” speeds is
confusing for many consumers, especially
the ones who had speed issues with
previous providers.
As they have no indications of minimum
guaranteed speeds, they can get quite
cynical about this type of advertising.
Frankly, the way advertising for broadband or ISP I live in a major conurbation a mile away from the
providers in this country works is a national hub exchange and I get one-third the advertised
scandal. They're advertising "up to" rates that "up to rate". And that's only after filing more than
they damn well know the majority of their one complaint. Before that I didn't even get a
customers are not going to get even half way quarter
near. It's a disgrace.
Unfortunately the mass public know very little about broadband
technology. BT knows this. As a result they sell their broadband based
on very slick advertising selling everything but the broadband itself:€
“a
fancy looking router, standard WiFi, cloud storage etc. They then
supplement with it lots of bold statements followed by ** and then
two pages of terms basically explaining that the statement with the
** next to it is not actually true.

21. Going
forward
Directions for
further research
After identifying the key frustrations that consumers have with their home broadband,
as well as the context in which future decision making will take place, further exploration
could include:
 a more in depth understanding of consumers’ home set-up and online behaviour (ideally through qualitative
methods: ethnography, in-depth interviewing, online qualitative)
 understanding expectations of service, decision making and customer journeys for specific target audiences (we
recommend a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods e.g start with a quantitative survey, followed by
focus groups and online qualitative methods)
 in-depth exploration of connectivity issues and customers’ reactions to these (through various qualitative
methods, both online and offline)
 identifying the most effective ways of communicating key brand benefits (broadband providers could use this
learning in future communication campaigns)
 communications / concept testing
 engaging consumers in offering their suggestions about new services which can be developed, or suggest
improvements to existing services (co-creation and collaboration: online qualitative methods followed by idea
generation workshops)

22. For further questions or recommendations for your
future research projects, please contact us!
Metro Research Ltd
Unit 118, The Chandlery
50 Westminster Bridge Road
London
SE1 7QY
0870 241 2401
www.metroresearch.com
Steve Morantz, Managing Director
smorantz@metroresearch.com