Ofcom, the UK telecom regulator issued its second annual research cum policy evaluation reports which look into the customer satisfaction levels related to telecoms, the internet and digital broadcasting in the UK. The report of Ofcom throws a fair amount light on following areas:

Broadband, mobile and digital TV services have been popular with 65+ age and low-wage groups for the last two years despite the poor take up of these services by this age group. 

Although the broadband prices are not considered cheap in the UK among low-income groups, most people from this group are still able to take up broadband services thanks to the availability of PAYG option that comes with a few cheap broadband packages.

The uptake of mobile services has gone up especially among the hearing impaired by 15 percent during the last year. This is because these disabled people find text-based communication immensely helpful.

Ofcom report also focuses on the current market trends in broadband and mobile services. The findings are quite amusing:

Due to the fierce competition between service providers, the prices have come down drastically. The prices of communication services have fallen down by 50 percent during the last five years.

The number of people in UK who opt for bundled packages has sharply increased in 2007. It is found that 40 percent of UK families go for bundled services instead of stand-alone broadband or mobile package as the bundling option often saves a lot of money.

The issue of internet security has never been considered so important earlier. However, nowadays, two-thirds of internet users are aware of internet protection, especially of the necessity of having parental controls to protect their children. In this regard, Ofcom has been looking into this area along with Byron Review.

The Policy evaluation report of Ofcom monitors the progress made in consumer protection projects launched by Ofcom. All these projects have been launched by Ofcom with an aim to enable better protection of the consumers.

According to the report, the number of silent calls has fallen by more than 30 percent since last year thanks to enforcement of new rules taken against many organizations.

Ofcom’s new rules with regard to migration have also yielded good results. The new MAC rules which were implemented in February, 2007 has helped many customers to switch their providers easily and smoothly. As a result, MAC related complaints fell sharply by nearly 75 percent during the last nine months. Similarly, calls BT Wholesale with regard to TAG issues also fell by 50 percent due to the new rules implemented by Ofcom.

Finally, the Ofcom report also lists out certain issues which cause dissatisfaction among many broadband customers. They are:

There is visible difference between the advertised connection speeds and the actual speeds that a broadband customer gets. So, Ofcom is working out a strategy with ASA to address this problem. Ofcom has already instructed all UK broadband suppliers to provide clear information on connection speeds to their customers.

Ofcom has also noted that the voluntary Code of Practice followed by mobile providers has not helped a large number of customers, as the number of complaints has not shown much decline during this year. Ofcom has already started looking into the concerns of the mobile customers and might set mandatory rules for the providers.