59 per cent of population experience issues with broadband, survey finds

A new Which? survey has found that 59 per cent of households (16 million people) across England experienced some kind of problem with their home internet connection in the last year.

The survey indicated three in ten of the affected families said the issues made it much more difficult to pay bills online or to use online banking services, and 19 per cent even said that the problems have had a negative financial impact on them.

Alex Neill, Which? managing director of Home Services, said: “With millions of us frustrated by bad broadband and stopped from doing the simplest of online tasks, we have launched a new, free tool to help people improve their connection.

“There is nothing more annoying than your internet cutting out when you’re streaming your favourite programme , or when you’ve spent ages filling your online shopping basket but your connection is too slow to get you to the checkout. Far too many people are experiencing problems with their broadband across the country and we want to help people to fix it.”

Responding to the report Cllr Gillian Brown, vice chair of the LGA's People and Places Board, said:

"Access to fast and reliable digital connectivity is increasingly a necessity for households. This research reinforces the LGA's warning that advertised broadband speeds, which are only available to 10 per cent of customers are misleading, and often don't reflect the experience of many users, particularly those in remote rural areas.

"Councils want to ensure everyone has good quality internet access. As part of our Up to Speed campaign, we have called for greater honesty and openness about the download and upload speeds customers are likely to receive depending on their location.

"Local government has invested more than £740 million in the roll-out of Superfast Broadband to over four million premises across the country and is committed to exploring with the communications industry, regulators and government how best to ensure residents across the country can benefit from public investment in new technology wherever they live."