The UK’s broadband has been put under the spotlight once again by telecoms regulator Ofcom and there are some big winners and losers. Throughout the year, all major Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are given the once over for how many complaints they receive and although the latest stats show a downward trend, there are still some doing far better than others.
Coming bottom of the pile in the latest Ofcom figures is Sky-owned NOW with the firm posting a result of 18 complaints per 100,000. That figure is quite a shock as Sky’s own broadband service actually came out on top with the ISP scoring just 5 complaints per 100,000.
It’s unclear why there is such a big difference between Sky and (Sky’s) NOW but Ofcom said most of the moans had come from users annoyed by how their complaints were handled.
Along with NOW, Virgin Media also performed worst compared to its rivals with the popular supplier seeing 15 complaints per 100,000.
As we mentioned before, Sky scored the fewest moans followed by Plusnet (6 complaints per 100,000), then TalkTalk (10 complaints per 100,000) and BT (10 complaints per 100,000).
HERE ARE THE FULL BROADBAND FIGURES FROM OFCOM
SKY • 5 complaints per 100,000
PLUSNET • 6 complaints per 100,000
TALKTALK • 10 complaints per 100,000
BT • 10 complaints per 100,000
VODAFONE • 12 complaints per 100,000
EE • 14 complaints per 100,000
VIRGIN MEDIA • 15 complaints per 100,000
NOW • 18 complaints per 100,000
Ofcom doesn’t just check broadband with the regulator also scoring Landline, Mobile and Pay-TV providers as well.
Coming out top for TV was Sky (1 complaint per 100,000) with BT and Virgin posting less impressive scores of 9 complaints per 100,000.
HERE ARE THE FULL PAY TV RESULTS
SKY • 1 complaints per 100,000
TALKTALK • 2 complaints per 100,000
BT • 9 complaints per 100,000
VIRGIN MEDIA • 9 complaints per 100,000
Mobile users were most annoyed by O2 (8 complaints per 100,000) with Tesco Mobile getting the least amount of gripes with 1 complaint per 100,000.
HERE ARE THE FULL MOBILE RESULTS
TESCO • 1 complaints per 100,000
EE • 2 complaints per 100,000
VODAFONE • 2 complaints per 100,000
SKY • 2 complaints per 100,000
ID MOBILE • 2 complaints per 100,000
THREE • 3 complaints per 100,000
O2 • 8 complaints per 100,000
Finally, there was landline issues with Ultitly Warehouse (0 complaints per 100,000) and Sky (2 complaints per 100,000) performing the best.
HERE ARE THE FULL MOBILE RESULTS
UTILITY WAREHOUSE • 0 complaints per 100,000
SKY • 2 complaints per 100,000
VODAFONE • 3 complaints per 100,000
PLUSNET • 5 complaints per 100,000
TALKTALK • 5 complaints per 100,000
VIRGIN MEDIA • 8 complaints per 100,000
NOW • 10 complaints per 100,000
EE • 15 complaints per 100,000
“In the quarter from April to June (Q2 2024), complaints to Ofcom remained similar to the previous quarter (Q1 2024: January to March 2024), Ofcom explained.
“Complaints about fixed broadband, landline, and pay-monthly mobile decreased and complaints about pay-TV stayed the same.”
Commenting on the latest figures Ernest Doku, telecoms expert at Uswitch.com said: “It’s encouraging to see that the overall volume of broadband complaints has decreased across most providers. While NOW Broadband is once again the most complained about broadband provider, the decline in the number of complaints it has received this quarter shows signs that the provider is listening to feedback.
“Complaints among pay-monthly mobile customers are also lower – a positive change from the previous quarter. It is, however, disappointing that O2 continues to be the most complained about mobile provider, with complaints now twice the amount received at the start of 2023.
“With many providers set to raise prices next year – yet again – and the recent launch of One-Touch Switch making broadband switching even easier, providers with dissatisfied customers need to be on their toes now more than ever to avoid losing customers”.
