MEASURABLY IMPROVING THE CONSUMER EXPERIENCE
Positive take-up trends, an increase in choice, and continuing downward pressure on prices show the communications industry doing more than ever in responding to changing customer needs. In its second annual report on ‘The Consumer Experience’, Ofcom analyses consumer choice, awareness, empowerment, satisfaction and protection for fixed and mobile telephony and broadband access.
This article summarises some of the highlights from the report, and some of the lessons for the industry as it seeks to continue to improve both perceptions and actual experience.
OFCOM AND THE CONSUMER EXPERIENCE
Ofcom is responsible for promoting the interests of citizens and consumers in relation to communications. The Consumer Experience report is based on data gathered in Ofcom’s Communications Tracking Survey and Decision Making Survey, conducted throughout 2007, supplemented with information on complaints and concerns.
ACCESS AND AVAILABILITY
The UK is now seeing take-up of mobiles overtake fixed lines, with a growing number of mobile-only households. Second only to Italy in Europe, the number of UK mobile connections now exceeds the population. Awareness of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services is growing at 58% (up 4%), but VoIP is still a minority experience, with only 12% having ever made a VoIP call.
Internet access in the home has risen to 65% of UK households (up from 61%), in line with growth in PC ownership; broadband access is up sharply from 73% to 86%. Consumer choice of broadband service supplier has improved too, with local loop unbundling, cable and wireless broadband, providing a wider choice of access platforms. The ability to offer bundled communications is proving popular too, with 2 in 5 consumers now taking at least two services from the same supplier.
CHOICE AND EMPOWERMENT
UK consumers still have a wide choice of suppliers with over 100 fixed line and mobile operators and more than 700 internet service providers to choose between. And awareness of alternative operators is growing steadily. More than 9 in 10 consumers are satisfied with their fixed and mobile telephony and around 8 in 10 are happy with their broadband service. Costs of communications services continue to fall, with a basket of residential telecoms services (access, fixed, mobile, broadband) coming down from £104.82 in 2002 to £69.85 last year.
PROTECTIONS AND CONCERNS
Complaints about mis-selling of fixed services dropped, but rose in connection with mobiles, notably on cashback schemes. For broadband services, the previous migration (MAC) problem seems to have been dealt with, but tag-on-line is still preventing broadband service uptake, though complaints are decreasing.
The level of consumer concerns about fixed and mobile telephony services, and broadband service dropped significantly last year. Residual issues for fixed telephony are costs and cold calling; for mobiles, call charges and reception quality; and for broadband, security, connection/service, advertising and content. Consumers are highly aware (85%+) of the dangers of computer viruses, and of the use of fake IDs to gain illicit access to financial and other sensitive data.
Read Ofcom’s full report here.
READ BETWEEN THE LINES
Ofcom’s latest report on The Consumer Experience shows that the industry has listened to the concerns raised last year and responded accordingly, improving its performance. Although there are still issues to address, the report highlights the tremendous opportunities still open to Communications Providers in the UK.
35% of UK households don’t yet have internet access at all, and, of those that do, 14% don’t yet have a broadband service. 82% of people have never made a VoIP call and the move to bundling of services is only now gathering pace. There is always room for improvement in the consumer experience – if only to keep pace with ever-rising consumer expectations! BT Wholesale, with the imminent launch of the new Connect portfolio of next generation broadband products, is ideally positioned to help Communications Providers deliver the high quality, high value services that consumers want.