Broadband ranked as “essential” factor in everyday life, says Which?
A new survey commissioned by consumer group Which? found that 90% of consumers thought that having access to broadband was “essential to their everyday life.”
Research consultancy Populus surveyed 2,107 people in the UK and found that a higher percentage believed that access to broadband was more essential than having a savings plan (70%) or a pension scheme (53%). Also, more people thought that broadband was more essential than having a car (68%), a TV (73%) or a mobile phone (74%).
Even though broadband was so important, over two-thirds (68%) of respondents experienced problems with their service during the past year. The principal issues cited were slower-than-normal speeds for less than a day (36%), drop-outs in connections (35%) and slower-than-normal speeds for more than a day (25%).
The survey also found that 30% of respondents were experiencing download speeds of less than 10MB per second, the speed that the Government stated is needed to meet the daily needs of both consumers and small businesses. This standard is proposed in the Digital Economy Bill slated to go to Parliament before the end of the current session.
Alex Neill, Which? Managing Director of Home and Legal Services, stated: “This research underlines again just how important broadband is to our everyday lives. Yet, many of us are still experiencing persistent service interruptions, and a large proportion of the population can’t access usable speeds to carry out the most basic tasks.
Neill added: “The Government must urgently press ahead with its reforms to give us the faster and more reliable broadband connections we all need.”