Ofcom: “Fair treatment, fair prices for customers”
January 9, 2020
Phone and broadband customers can easily compare which providers offer the best service and value for money, thanks to new performance scorecards published by Ofcom.
As part of a new initiative from the UK Regulators Network (UKRN), regulators in telecoms, water, energy and banking have partnered to compare how customers rate the biggest companies who provide services people rely on every day.
Broadband, landline and mobile customers can use this customer service checker to easily see which providers perform best for customer satisfaction, complaints and value for money. Overall, most people are happy with the service they get, with satisfaction in the mobile, broadband and landline markets at 93 per cent, 86 per cent and 83 per cent respectively.
Lindsey Fussell, Ofcom’s Consumer Group Director, said: “When you’re shopping around for a phone or broadband provider, there are lots of different things to think about – from price to the quality of service you’re likely to get. These scorecards help you easily compare how different providers perform, so you can choose the right service for you.”
The scorecards are published alongside Ofcom’s annual Pricing Trends report – providing analysis of what UK customers paid for broadband, phone and pay-TV services in 2019. The main findings include:
The price of mobile services continues to fall. Mobile customers in the UK pay less than those in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the US, with the cost of average mobile call, text and data use now £13 per month – £2 lower than in 2018. Cheaper deals are becoming more popular, with 38 per cent of all mobile customers now on SIM-only, up from 34 per cent the previous year. The cost of mobile tariffs with higher data allowances has also fallen, while mobile data use has risen sharply – showing our mobile phones are becoming cheaper to use for the things that matter to us the most.
Switching to save. Some customers are still paying more than they need to. For example, around three quarters (73 per cent) of mobile customers who have passed their initial deal could pay less by switching to a SIM-only deal – saving an average of £11 per month. While out-of-contract broadband customers can save £8-10 per month by taking up a new deal. In the last year, we have seen more people move to faster broadband deals, with take-up of superfast broadband increasing by a fifth. Switching among pay-monthly mobile customers has increased by a third.
People buying bundles pay lower prices. 80 per cent of UK households buy more than one communications service from the same provider, in line with last year. Those that bundle two or more services pay less than those who buy their broadband, phone and TV services separately. In general, the more services that are bundled together, the more people save.