UK surfers seek cheaper broadband

A looming economic crisis is prompting users to switch broadband supplier to save money

Price was the number-one reason for UK consumers to switch broadband providers between April and June 2008.

UK-based Simplifydigital, which matches consumer needs with the best deal on the market, said that service reliability, once the most important aspect, had slipped to third place.

Pricing is now closely followed by the desire to bundle TV, broadband and home phone services, also to save money, in what is widely seen a sign of the global credit crunch.

Simplifydigital said that a looming economic crisis had prompted a major increase in switching in order to save money on monthly subscriptions.

Customers are also increasingly aware of the deals to be had by bundling their broadband with phone and digital TV.

However, a steady volume of customers are still switching supplier because of problems with service reliability.

Earlier in the year, this was the most commonly cited reason for switching broadband providers but has now been overtaken by money saving considerations.

Poor customer service came fourth on the list, particularly the inability to get through to call centres, the high cost of calling the centres and frustration that call centre agents are not empowered to solve common problems.

This was followed by the desire to upgrade from dial-up to broadband. There are still a significant number of customers with dial-up connections who are now able to upgrade to a broadband and save money at the same time.