By silicon.com, 28 February 2007 17:00
Back in the heady late 90s, broadband was for the rich and tech savvy. Now it's gone down the commoditisation route and it's being given away for free.
Since the millennium, the progress of broadband Britain has been astounding - speeds are up, coverage is nigh on 100 per cent and prices are most definitely down - led by the emergence of 'free' broadband providers.
For those on the wrong side of the digital divide, the free offers provided by Orange, Sky, TalkTalk et al have made fat pipe connectivity a little more affordable. For most of those not connected to the broadband network, it's a question of not wanting to, rather than not having the option.
And what have we gained as prices plummeted? Free broadband is not, after all, free in the truest sense - users must tie themselves to a phone line or other services to get their discounted broadband.
And those on such free services have also found themselves saddled with the smallest download limits and slowest speeds for their trouble, as ISPs try and persuade users to upgrade.
And, as research has revealed, customer satisfaction levels are diving. For those on the 'free' side of the fence, there is dissatisfaction at long delays to get switched on and after sales support once the connection's been established. For those on the other side, with more established players, there's dissatisfaction that pricing hasn't necessarily headed downwards as much as the entrance of 'free' players into the market might have suggested.
It's a problem they better sort out quickly - around 25 per cent of consumers quizzed in the research said they are ready to ditch their ISP for someone new - or risk seeing their customers haemorrhaging to rivals.
Some may question whether the service providers have the reserves to invest in customer service. In the recent broadband feeding frenzy, ISPs have been spending their cash piles on local loop unbundling, customer acquisition, consolidation - how much left is left in the bank to tackle their creeping customer service woes?
Nevertheless, invest they must or risk not only losing customers but souring the platform they hope to use to deliver higher value services. The only option to keep dissatisfied customers would be to make contracts even longer and more stringent - and then broadband Britain would truly have hit a new low.
Comments
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1. Chris Meacher
... Probably because of changing T&Cs without notice. That's certainly why I'm unhappy with my Broadband ISP!
When I first signed up for my (Plusnet) broadband account it mentioned being restricted by an of Acceptable Use Policy (AUP). This AUP was mentioned but not detailed in the contract.
After a _lot_ of searching (they like to hide these things) I found the AUP, and saw I'ld be restricted to downloading 20Gb/mth - which was fine for my usage.
A few months ago this was cut to 4Gb/mth - although apparently since it wasn't a change to the 'wording' of the contract they didn't feel the need to inform me (never mind that further documentation referenced in a contract means that info becomes part of the contract itself).
It could of course be worse - I've now served my 12 months minimum contract and will be switching ISP as soon as I get a chance to look around for a good value provider that doesn't chop the legs off your account to try and force you to upgrade your limits for an additional 47% price rise per month (to get back to the level that you originally signed up for).
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
2. Mand Beckett
Hi there,
I think there's been a bit of a misunderstanding here, from what you say re the 4GB usage allowance I presume that you're on Broadband Plus? Broadband Premier is the product which has a 20GB usage allowance, and has done so for almost a year.
Broadband Plus has had a 4GB usage allowance for about the same period.
We have had some issues with Plus over the last couple of months, and have detailed these in our Service Status (http://status.plus.net) pages. We did then increase the bandwidth available to Plus customers to alleviate this, and lit a new central pipe just short of 14 days ago in order to make everyones experience better.
If you'd like me to look into this further please drop me an email with your username and a contact number (mbeckett@plus.net).
Kind Regards
Mand Beckett
PlusNet Comms Team
3. anonymous
I have to admit that I must be one of the few who is happy with their isp.
5GB monthly limit, upto 8mb (actual 7.9mb on average), excelent customer service (although have only had to contact them once) and no noticable break in service (other than due to power cut which is hardly the fault of the isp) all for £17.99 a month.
You get what you pay for, free service will result in very poor customer satisfaction (if you ever get a connection)