Faster internet connections called for by consumer body

Cheryl Mathews

Customer-value group Which? has called on broadband suppliers to give their clients the connection speeds that they are paying for.

According to a survey commissioned by the watchdog, 45% of broadband customers have had to endure slow downloads. Of this percentage reporting the issue, 50% said that they are affected by the problem most or all of the time.

With companies big and small investing heavily in the use of search engine optimisation (SEO) copywriting services to produce their news content, the executive director of Which?, Richard Lloyd, said:

“The internet is an essential part of modern life, yet millions of us are getting frustratingly slow speeds and having to wait days to get reconnected when things go wrong.”

With many firms relying on the fast delivery of their SEO tailored news feeds, Lloyd continued:

“It’s less superfast broadband, more super-slow service from companies who are expecting people to pay for speeds they may never get.”

Responding to the claims however, Ofcom said that it already had a voluntary system in place to help customers suffering from slow speeds. This code of conduct compels signatory firms to provide speed estimates and allows for customers to cancel the contract if they are not attained.

A spokesperson for Ofcom said that this ensures that service quality is kept high.

According to the results of a mystery-shopper exercise for the regulatory body, the code did seem to be working. However, the task also highlighted areas of concern that Ofcom said will be addressed in a new code of practice, which is to be published by the summer of this year.