Broadband problems hit half of households

MORE than half of households experienced a problem with their broadband in the last year, according to consumer watchdog Which?.

The most common issues centred on price rises, poor speeds, lost connections and routers.

Which? polled more than 1,900 customers across 12 providers. More than one in five complained about increased bills and slow speeds.

Virgin Media customers were the most likely to have had a problem, with 73 per cent saying they encountered difficulty in the last year.

Some 62 per cent of Sky customers reported a problem, followed by 61 per cent of BT customers. Zen Internet achieved the lowest proportion of complaints ( 25%).

Alex Neill of Which? said: ‘It’s clear that too many households are still suffering from substandard broadband.’

A Virgin Media spokesman said: ‘We do everything we can to balance keeping our prices competitive while investing to meet customers’ ... increasing appetite for faster broadband.’

The major providers have agreed to automatically compensate customers for slow repairs, missed appointments and delays from next year.