Broadband speeds research published by Ofcom

Ofcom this week published its initial research into broadband speeds. The report contains non-ISP specific results following tests with SamKnows over a period of a month.

Some of the main findings from the report include:

3.6Mbit/s was the average speed received by panel members tested; consumers on the most popular broadband headline speed package, up to 8Mbit/s, received an average actual throughput speed of 3.6Mbit/s; and 83 per cent of consumers say that they are satisfied with their broadband service.

However, over a quarter of consumers claim that the speeds they receive are not what they expected when they signed up to their broadband service.

We reckon the report is over-simplistic and potentially misleading as consumers don’t necessarily understand the concept of contention, however the service providers don’t go out of their way to explain the underlying technologies and concepts. Consumers expect broadband to be always-on and to run at the maximum quoted speed at all times. This is obviously not in line with reality, and is the differentiator between DSL and more expensive leased line services.

The full Ofcom report can be found here.