Big broadband firms let down UK customers during pandemic

Some of the UK’s biggest broadband providers have disappointed their customers during the pandemic on reliability, speed and value for money, an annual consumer survey has found.

Almost three quarters of broadband users (71%) have used their connection more since the Covid outbreak but 69% said they had experienced an issue with their connection – a substantial increase on last year’s survey, the poll found.

Very low speeds (59%) and frequent dropouts (53%) were the most common problems experienced more often during the pandemic compared to beforehand.

Watchdog Which? said an increased reliance on broadband over the past year meant customers were more likely to notice connection issues.

The “big four” providers – BT, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media – supply nine in 10 households and left many customers disappointed, the poll found.

Overall, Virgin received an overall customer score of 53%, leaving it second from bottom in the ranking.

TalkTalk and Sky achieved scores of 54%.

BT earned the highest score of the big four with 57%, pulled down by middling ratings across the board and a poor score for value for money.

Only John Lewis scored lower than the big four with 47%, with low ratings for connection speed, connection reliability and ease of set-up.

Zen Internet achieved the highest customer score of 70% after topping the ranking last year with 84%.

The survey also found customers who upgraded to fibre broadband often felt the benefits. Some 63% noticed faster speeds and 45% suffered fewer connection dropouts.

Although superfast fibre connections are available to 96% of the country, around a quarter said they still had standard broadband.

Natalie Hitchins, Which? head of home products and services, said: “Providers must up their game and meet the challenge of providing fast, reliable connections.”