BBC Watchdog Broadband Survey, March 2007
The BBC Watchdog programme, a consumer television programme, asked their viewers to rate their broadband supplier (internet service provider, ISP) on the following criteria:
- Customer Service
- Ease of set-up
- Cancellation
- Value for Money
- Reliability of Service
The programme stresses that these results are not presented as a scientific statistical survey, but offers a unique snapshot of the personal opinions of 50,000 viewers who voted. The results do not represent the views of Watchdog or the BBC's view of any of the companies. As Virgin, NTL and Telewest recently merged to form Virgin Media, the companies were treated separately as it was deemed too early to assess the newly formed company.
Those that took part in the survey were asked whether they were...
- Extremely unsatisfied (1)
- Unsatisfied (2)
- Satisfied (3)
- Extremely satisfied (4)
... with their broadband supplier.
The top 5 broadband suppliers
These represent the companies that, overall, participants of the survey were most satisfied with. The scores were calculated by adding the satisfied and extremely satisfied ratings in each of the 5 categories listed above.
- BT (18,862)
- Virgin (17,881)
- AOL Europe (16,977)
- Tiscali (11,973)
- Talk Talk (10,802)
The worst 5 broadband suppliers
These represent the companies that, overall, participants of the survey were least satisfied with. The scores were calculated by adding together the unsatisfied and extremely unsatisfied ratings in each of the five categories listed above.
- Orange (12,313)
- Talk Talk (11,944)
- BT (10,669)
- Tiscali (10,412)
- AOL Europe (7,500)
Proportional rankings were also calculated. These take into account the smaller, less well known broadband companies who also provoked a very definitive response.
Top 5 best broadband suppliers proportionally to the number of votes cast
- Global (95%)
- Waitrose (94%)
- Zen (93%)
- Madasafish (91%)
- Metronet (90%)
Top 5 worst broadband suppliers proportionally to the number of votes cast
- Biscit (77%)
- Bulldog (63%)
- Orange (58%)
- Talk Talk (53%)
- Sky (51%)
For more information regarding this broadband survey, please visit the BBC Watchdog Website.
