Some people settling for less as 4 in 5 experience connectivity issues
A mismatch between levels of satisfaction and experience of broadband performance among respondents to a new survey, suggests that people may be settling for less and missing out on the benefits of high-speed broadband.
National Broadband Ireland (NBI), the company rolling out the National Broadband Plan (NBP), commissioned Core Research to undertake research among members of the public who are living within the NBP Intervention Area (IA) and will therefore be served by the NBI high speed fibre network, but who have not yet availed of a connection.
Overall, 2 in 3 are satisfied with speed and reliability, with only slightly lower satisfaction among those remote working. The research also showed that 84% have experienced at least one of a range of connectivity issues including: Patchy internet coverage (72%), slow downloads (65%), poor signal during busy periods in the home (62%), internet dropout (63%), buffering (59%), having to turn camera off in online meetings (33%), as well as commuting to the office to avoid working from home (27%).
BETTER PERFORMANCE AVAILABLE
Commenting on the findings, NBI chief executive officer, Peter Hendrick, said: “ComReg’s most recent quarterly report showed impressive uptake and performance of fixed fibre broadband connections. This is backed up by the take-up rate on the NBI network which is averaging 30% and surpassing expectations and performance in other jurisdictions.
“However, the aim of NBI and the Irish Government is for more and more people to avail of high-speed fibre and the research we commissioned shows there is still a gap in public understanding of the quality of reliability and speed which is now becoming available, which could see people missing out on the benefits of high-speed broadband.
“The research, among 231 people who are resident in the National Broadband Plan Intervention Area but have not yet availed of a connection, showed that more than 4 in 5 respondents experienced at least one of a range of broadband connectivity issues and yet 2 in 3 are satisfied with speed and reliability. This suggests some people may be settling for less because of a lack of awareness of the increasing availability and much better performance of high-speed fibre broadband,” he said.
CHECK FOR UPDATES
The survey was conducted among a sample of 231 households within the NBP intervention area and classified as ready to order (high speed fibre broadband is available in their area but they are currently not availing of it).
“NBI issues regular local and national updates on the progress of the rollout and to highlight areas becoming live on the network, and we will continue our efforts to keep people informed in the new year.
“With minimum speeds of 500 megabits per second, a connection to the NBI fibre network means a high speed, reliable broadband connection at all times all over the home, no matter how many devices are online. As a wholesale provider, we have partnered with more than 60 retail broadband providers so consumers have a really wide range of choice with competitive packages on offer. We encourage members of the public to visit nbi. ie where they can check their eircode and sign up for updates.”