Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Understanding the consumer broadband experience
From the "Grass is always greener" files.The UK regulator, Ofcom, has released a report on consumer internet services. It turns out that the UK internet experience is not that different from what we see in Canada.
For example, according to the report,
UK consumers receive an average broadband speed of 3.6 megabits per second (Mbit/s), comprehensive new Ofcom research reveals today.Most consumers surveyed were reasonably happy with their broadband service, with only 9% expressing dissatisfaction overall. 93% of consumers were satisfied with their web browsing experience.
That’s less than the average maximum possible speed of 4.3 Mbit/s across the UK and significantly below advertised headline speeds.
UK based Analysys Mason says that the Ofcom study shows that consumer demand for internet services is not far ahead of supply and people understand the limitations of what they are buying. According to their interpretation of the study, the customer satisfaction numbers indicate that consumers understand that speed is dependent on variables including how many people are online at any time.
There are of course ISPs that provide a materially better service than others, but the overall low level dissatisfaction would suggest that accusations of mis-selling have been somewhat over-hyped.I especially enjoyed the closing paragraph of the Analysys Mason press release:
The telecoms industry is used to hearing tales of consumer dissatisfaction and of ‘pent-up’ demand for bandwidth – often from excitable bloggers, or from parties that have an obvious interest in promoting that view. Research often misinterprets long-term predictions of bandwidth usage as indicators of demand. What this survey shows above all else is that, so long as people are aware of what they are buying, supply to a large extent informs demand and that the two are in truth substantially aligned.Good lessons for Canadians to keep in mind as we prepare to see the filings for the CRTC's network management proceeding.
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internet, Ofcom, Analysys Mason
Posted by Mark Goldberg @ 1/13/2009 06:48:00 AM 
Comments:
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I lived in the UK for a year (2006) and found no difference in the service. Now this was a year before the iPlayer was released, and that has caused some speed problems, at least in the beginning of its use.
One thing is worth noting, about a year ago Ofcom forced ISPs to market their speeds more acuritly because customers were complaining that they were not getting the speeds advertised. Ofcom made ISP's allow customers to break their contracts if they were not getting these speeds.
I would like to see Canada do the same thing.
BBC article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7151132.stm
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One thing is worth noting, about a year ago Ofcom forced ISPs to market their speeds more acuritly because customers were complaining that they were not getting the speeds advertised. Ofcom made ISP's allow customers to break their contracts if they were not getting these speeds.
I would like to see Canada do the same thing.
BBC article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7151132.stm
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