Topic: Britain's broadband generation is getting restless

[Clive]

PC Pro survey reveals Britain's broadband generation is getting restless.

A PC Pro survey of over 2,000 readers has revealed that many are unhappy with their current connection speeds, the prices they're paying and the level of customer service they're receiving.
This resulted in 17 per cent of PC Pro readers switching to a different supplier during 2004, with a further 16 per cent on the verge.

'That's already a third of the broadband population, but we expect these figures to leap in 2005,' said PC Pro editor, Tim Danton. 'Every month the prices drop, and more and more people are trying to switch.'

There was particularly bad news for the biggest supplier of them all: almost three times as many people were trying to leave BT as were trying to join it. PC Pro's survey discovered that many current BT broadband customers were dissuaded from leaving as, when they phoned BT to cancel their subscription, they were offered a lower price.

Our survey also revealed that other manufacturers are making it difficult to make the switch. Despite a code of practice in place that's designed to make it easy to move seamlessly from one broadband supplier to another, 12 per cent of those people who tried to switch couldn't do so.

'We discovered a huge variety of problems, but one of the biggest issues is the current supplier withholding the information that people need to give to their new supplier,' said Danton. 'This breaks the code of practice, but because that code is voluntary there's nothing we or Ofcom can do to help.'

Despite this, PC Pro recommends that everyone takes a look at their broadband connection to see if they're paying too much. 'There's so much choice out there now,' says Danton, 'and if you just stick with your current connection then there's every chance you're being ripped off.'

Look out for the new issue of PC Pro, where we explain how to upgrade to 2Mb broadband and faster from just £14.99 per month.

Here are the headlines from the survey:

TOP 3 BROADBAND SUPPLIERS PEOPLE ARE JOINING
1. PlusNet
2. British Telecom
3. Pipex

TOP 3 BROADBAND SUPPLIERS PEOPLE ARE LEAVING
1. British Telecom
2. NTL
3. Pipex

TOP 3 REASONS FOR MAKING THE SWITCH
1. Better price
2. Higher speeds
3. Customer service

[Dack]

Interesting to see that Pipex were on the 'leaving' and 'joining' list - they recently introduced a cap on newsgroup access and there are much better deals out there at the moment.

Currently looking around for a new provider (as NTL are about to increase speeds and implement cap - 1Meg rate with 1 Gig a month download - I ask you! - or 2Meg rate with 30G cap). Best ones I've found at the moment are www.adsl4less.co.uk, who are offering unlimited 512k download for £14.99 a month,  and plusnet who, from April, are basing cost on usage and for 21.99 a month you are looking at a 30G cap (downloads between 1am and 8am are not included in your usage) and rates of upto 8M

[Simon]

I am still wth Pipex, and although there are better deals out there, I'm reluctant to move, because I know I can count on them to be reliable.  I have to say, the PlusNet deal looks good though, but will it end up being over subscribed?

[sam]

interesting that telewest isnt on one of those lists... i am on their blueyonder service and have been for 4years now. absolutely excellent. probably more expensive than the rest but we have free tv off them with our phoneline. oh and when they just upgrade your acount from 0.5mb to 1mb free of charge you cant complain :-)