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Regulator’s 10th annual consumer experience report reveals rise in broadband, pay TV complaints.
Telco customer satisfaction fell and churn rose in 2015, according to Ofcom’s 10th annual consumer experience report, published on Wednesday.
Overall satisfaction with bundled services providers fell to 85% in 2015 from 90% in 2014. On an individual services basis, satisfaction with fixed telephony, broadband, and digital TV providers all declined, while mobile satisfaction was flat (see table 1).
"Among bundlers, the majority of whom purchase at least their fixed-line and fixed broadband services from the same provider, satisfaction with value for money has decreased; from 80% in 2014 to 73% in 2015," Ofcom said, in the annex to the report. "At the same time, dissatisfaction with value for money among bundlers has increased since 2014; from 12% to 17% in 2015."
The performance was mixed when it came to the number of complaints per 100,000 subscribers. Complaints about fixed telephony dropped to 61.81 from 65.17, while complaints about mobile declined to 19.77 from 20.08.
However, complaints about broadband increased to 77.57 from 74.89, and complaints about pay TV increased to 19.21 from 16.28.
Furthermore, the report shows a larger proportion of fixed voice, mobile, and pay TV customers switched provider in 2015, compared to 2014 (see table 2).
In addition, Ofcom noted that the average household spend on communications services has fallen in real terms over the last 12 months, and the performance of fixed and mobile broadband has improved.
However, it also found that line rental prices have steadily increased as the fixed voice market shifts to access-based pricing from usage-based pricing, while increased promotional discounting and complex pricing makes it more difficult for consumers to determine whether they are getting value for money from their telco.
"Bundling, discounting, time-limited offers and an increasing number of packages and permutations are all making it more difficult for consumers to compare services, which will tend to increase the likelihood that they will make sub-optimal choices," Ofcom said.
