Broadband speeds failing customers

Broadband customers in the UK are suffering slower speeds than advertised by ISPs, according to telecoms regulator Ofcom.

Twenty-six per cent of customers said the speed they receive was not what they expected when they signed up to the service.

Around 20 per cent of customers on 8Mbps packages actually receive average speeds of less than 2Mbps. Only nine per cent of customers signed up to 8Mbps deals receive over 6Mbps.

The Government's Digital Britain report, published in June, recommended that 2Mbps should be the minimum speed available to all homes by 2012.

Ofcom said customers can’t get "headline speed" because ISPs hold back broadband capacity for technical reasons.

The report says a variety of factors can affect broadband speed, including distance from the telephone exchange, condition of the phone line, quality of wiring within the house, the type of modem or router used and the speed of the computer.

However, the majority of customers are happy with their speed claims Ofcom. The report showed that average connection speed in the UK has increased from 3.6Mbps in January to 4.1Mbps.

The report, carried out in conjunction with Ofcom's technical partner SamKnows and market research agency GfK, also emphasised the disparity in broadband speeds between rural and urban customers.

Urban customers received an average speed of 4.6Mbps, compared to an average of 3.3Mbps delivered to rural consumers.

The survey was conducted more than 60 million separate service performance tests in more than 1,600 homes between November 2008 and April 2009.

It found Virgin Media provided the fastest speeds, delivering broadband to its "up to 10Mbps" customers at an average speed of 8.1 to 8.7 Mbps.

BT customers receiving the "up to 8Mbps" package only got average speeds of between 3.8 and 4.2Mbps.

Ofcom broadband report: read it in full.