Slow broadband – complained to Ofcom yet?
Back in April (read our April
slow broadband article) Euroffice scooped the opposition by bringing you results of an Ofcom survey on how promised broadband speeds had nothing to do with reality. Now the national press has picked up (July 27) the Ofcom mystery shopper survey which says only 46% of customers are getting the advertised speed. That is worse than last year when 56% were getting lower speeds than advertised. Some consumers, for example, promised 20MB per second, are getting only 6.5MBps.
This is bad for business. Customers of small businesses will not wait while your page loads so business vanishes. According to data quoted in April, one-third of users are lost if your website takes more than four seconds to download and broadband users are 'more impatient' than dial-up users.
A spokeswoman told Euroffice at the time that Ofcom would welcome complaints. It is quite simple. If you did not complain then, do so now. The more complaints the easier it is for Ofcom to bring in regulations which will force providers to tell the truth or be punished.
Ofcom is also saying it may force slow providers to cancel contracts if the speed promised is not there over a three month period. That could save you a lot of time and money and boost customers by switching to providers with certified speeds. There may also be a requirement for broadband providers to state the ‘typical’ speed, not an 'up to' speed. Some of the few companies whose speeds do at least get nearer the promised level, are accusing other slow companies of ripping off the customer.
Check your speed here (and watch the dial move...).
Then
get in touch with Ofcom here know about your problems through their complaints’ service.
