11

Customer satisfaction research

Fieldwork: July - August 2016

22

Background and methodology

Background and methodology• The Switching Tracker is Ofcom's key data source on switching levels, attitudes and experiences across the

communications markets (landline, mobile, fixed broadband and multi-channel/Pay TV). Since 2007 Ofcom has run this

tracking study among UK adults (decision makers in each market) to measure participation levels, switching incidence

and ease of switching, as well as satisfaction levels in each market.

• We have moved from RDD telephone interviewing (2014 and prior), through an interim year (2015) where interviewing

was split to achieve half by telephone and half face-to-face, to conduct all of the interviewing in 2016 face-to-face (2576

interviews).

• Fieldwork took place in July – August 2016. Questions are asked up front to establish household ownership of landline,

fixed broadband, TV service and mobile phone. For each service, the questionnaire established whether the respondent

is the decision maker. Questions of the decision maker also established whether any of the household’s services are in a

bundle or package from the same supplier.

• On completion of the interviews, weighting is applied for each section (i.e. each of the above markets) of the survey

using profiles from our Communications Tracking Survey.

• Throughout the chart pack indicates significant decrease, indicates significant increase at 99% confidence level,

compared to 2015 and indicates a significantly lower score, indicates a significantly higher score at 99%

confidence level compared to the total market.

• The data tables can be found at: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0025/95524/Switching-Tracker-2016-

Data-tables.pdf

33

47

56

51

60

57

39

37

36

33

33

9

4

4

4

6

3

2

5

3

3

2

1

3

2

2

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Bundle

Pay TV

Broadband

Mobile

Landline

Very satisfied Fairly satisfied Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied Fairly dissatisfied Very dissatisfied

Since 2015 there has been an increase in overall satisfaction in the mobile and

broadband markets.

Base: All adults aged 16+ who are the decision-maker and express an opinion on fixed line (2016, 1716), mobile (2016, 2262), fixed broadband (2016, 1528), pay

TV (2016, 1085), any bundle (2016, 1312). ‘Don’t know’ responses have been excluded from the base.

QL5/QM5/QI5/QT5/QB5. In terms of your (SERVICE)... How satisfied are you with the OVERALL SERVICE PROVIDED by (PROVIDER)? Would you say you are...

Source: Ofcom decision-making survey carried out by Saville Rossiter-Base in July to August 2016

Satisfaction with overall services from communications provider - total market

%Satisfied

89%

89%

88%

83%

91%

90%

91%

89%

85%

91%

2013 2014

85%

88%

89%

83%

90%

2015

86%

89%

92%

87%

92%

2016

44

47

54

55

60

57

36

31

35

33

33

8

8

7

4

6

4

5

2

2

3

4

2

1

2

2

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

TalkTalk

Virgin Media

Sky

BT

All landline

Very satisfied Fairly satisfied Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied Fairly dissatisfied Very dissatisfied

BT customers have higher overall satisfaction than landline customers as a whole (89%

vs 92%)

Base: All adults aged 16+ who are the decision-maker and express an opinion on fixed line (1716), receiving their service from BT (664), Sky (381), Virgin Media (334),

TalkTalk (170). Providers used by fewer than 100 respondents are not shown individually but are included in the total. ‘Don’t know’ responses have been excluded from

the base.

QL5. In terms of your landline service... How satisfied are you with the OVERALL SERVICE PROVIDED by (PROVIDER

Source: Ofcom decision-making survey carried out by Saville Rossiter-Base in July to August 2016

Satisfaction with overall services, by landline provider - total market

%Satisfied

2016

89%

92%

90%

85%

83%

55

77

64

52

52

63

57

60

19

30

37

36

30

35

33

2

3

4

4

3

4

4

1

2

5

4

2

2

3

1

1

2

4

1

2

2

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Tesco

Virgin

Three

Vodafone

O2

EE

All mobile

Very satisfied Fairly satisfied Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied Fairly dissatisfied Very dissatisfied

94%

96%

Tesco Mobile customers have higher overall satisfaction than mobile customers as a

whole (96% vs 92%)

Base: All adults aged 16+ who are the decision-maker and express an opinion on mobile (2262), receiving their service from EE (577), O2 (555), Vodafone (315), 3 (225), Virgin (150),

Tesco (140). Providers used by fewer than 100 respondents are not shown individually but are included in the total. ‘Don’t know’ responses have been excluded from the base.

QM5. In terms of your mobile phone service... How satisfied are you with the OVERALL SERVICE PROVIDED by (PROVIDER)? Would you say you are...

Source: Ofcom decision-making survey carried out by Saville Rossiter-Base in July to August 2016

Satisfaction with overall services, by mobile provider - total market

%Satisfied

2016

92%

92%

93%

89%

89%

66

49

55

45

52

51

35

36

39

36

36

7

2

5

6

4

6

3

6

4

5

4

3

6

2

3

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

TalkTalk

Virgin Media

BT

Sky

All fixedbroadband

Very satisfied Fairly satisfied Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied Fairly dissatisfied Very dissatisfied %Satisfied

2016

87%

88%

84%

91%

83%

Virgin Media customers have higher overall satisfaction with their fixed broadband

than fixed broadband customers as a whole (91% vs 87%)

Base: All adults aged 16+ who are the decision-maker and express an opinion on fixed broadband (1528), receiving their service from Sky (415), BT (404), Virgin

Media (356), TalkTalk (171). Providers used by fewer than 100 respondents are not shown individually but are included in the total. ‘Don’t know’ responses have

been excluded from the base.

QI5. In terms of your fixed broadband service... How satisfied are you with the OVERALL SERVICE PROVIDED by (PROVIDER)? Would you say you are...

Source: Ofcom decision-making survey carried out by Saville Rossiter-Base in July to August 2016

Satisfaction with overall services, by fixed broadband provider - total market

77

54

55

56

62

37

37

37

32

4

4

4

3

4

2

2

2

2

2

1

1

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Virgin Media

Sky

All Pay TV

All Digital TV

Very satisfied Fairly satisfied Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied Fairly dissatisfied Very dissatisfied %Satisfied

2016

94%

93%

93%

91%

About nine out of ten pay TV and digital TV customers were satisfied with their overall

service, with no significant difference between Sky and Virgin Media customers

Base: All adults aged 16+ who are the decision-maker and express an opinion on Digital TV (1850) Pay TV (1085), receiving their service from Sky (635), Virgin

Media (304). Providers used by fewer than 100 respondents are not shown individually but are included in the total. ‘Don’t know’ responses have been excluded

from the base.

QT5. In terms of your television service... How satisfied are you with the OVERALL SERVICE PROVIDED by (PROVIDER)? Would you say you are...

Source: Ofcom decision-making survey carried out by Saville Rossiter-Base in July to August 2016

Satisfaction with overall services, by Pay TV provider - total market

£

88

63

60

62

58

53

47

52

47

55

46

46

47

65

62

65

65

32

33

32

35

34

36

34

36

32

35

34

35

27

31

30

29

2

4

2

3

5

6

5

6

6

6

6

6

5

3

2

3

2

2

4

3

5

7

7

7

4

7

9

7

2

2

2

2

1

1

1

1

3

4

3

4

4

6

5

4

2

1

1

1

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

2016

2015

2014

2013

2016

2015

2014

2013

2016

2015

2014

2013

2016

2015

2014

2013

Very satisfied Fairly satisfied Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied Fairly dissatisfied Very dissatisfied

Lan

dlin

eM

ob

ile

Bro

ad

ba

nd

Pay T

VSatisfaction with reliability remains highest in the pay TV and landline markets, despite

increases in satisfaction among mobile, fixed broadband and pay TV customers

Base: All adults aged 16+ who are the decision-maker and express an opinion on fixed line (2013,1576) (2014, 1730) (2015, 2165) (2016, 1713), mobile

(2013,1703) (2014, 1670) (2015, 2587) (2016, 2259), fixed broadband (2013,1283) (2014, 1459) (2015, 1864) (2016, 1527), pay TV (2013, 908) (2014, 1006) (2015,

1302) (2016, 1083). ‘Don’t know’ responses have been excluded from the base.

QL5b/QM5b/QI5b/QT5b. And how satisfied are you with the RELIABILITY of your (SERVICE) from (PROVIDER)? Would you say you are...

Source: Ofcom decision-making survey carried out by Saville Rossiter-Base in July to August 2013, 2014 and 2015

Satisfaction with reliability of service (reception/ease of accessing mobile network)

among total market: 2013-2016%Satisfied

93%

94%

82%

83%

94%

95%

80%

85%

2013 2014

92%

94%

81%

83%

2015

95%

92%

86%

86%

2016

99

59

66

62

66

65

29

25

29

27

27

6

7

6

3

5

2

1

2

2

2

4

1

1

2

2

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

TalkTalk

Virgin Media

Sky

BT

All landline

Very satisfied Fairly satisfied Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied Fairly dissatisfied Very dissatisfied %Satisfied

2016

92%

93%

91%

91%

88%

About nine in ten landline customers were satisfied with the reliability of their landline

service

Base: All adults aged 16+ who are the decision-maker and express an opinion on fixed line (1713), receiving their service from BT (665), Sky (379), Virgin Media

(332), TalkTalk (169). Providers used by fewer than 100 respondents are not shown individually but are included in the total. ‘Don’t know’ responses have been

excluded from the base.

QL5b. And how satisfied are you with the RELIABILITY of your (SERVICE) from (PROVIDER)? Would you say you are...

Source: Ofcom decision-making survey carried out by Saville Rossiter-Base in July to August 2016

Satisfaction with reliability of service, by landline provider - total market

1010

67

55

46

53

58

50

55

24

32

35

32

29

35

32

3

7

7

6

6

6

6

5

5

6

3

5

5

4

1

1

7

5

3

4

4

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Tesco

Virgin

Three

Vodafone

O2

EE

All mobile

Very satisfied Fairly satisfied Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied Fairly dissatisfied Very dissatisfied %Satisfied

2016

86%

85%

86%

86%

80%

87%

91%

Customers of Three reported lower overall satisfaction with their mobile reception

than mobile customers as a whole (80% vs 86%)

Base: All adults aged 16+ who are the decision-maker and express an opinion on mobile (2259), receiving their service from EE (577), O2 (554), Vodafone (315), 3

(225), Virgin (150), Tesco (140). Providers used by fewer than 100 respondents are not shown individually but are included in the total. ‘Don’t know’ responses have

been excluded from the base.

QM5b. And how satisfied are you with the RECEPTION or EASE OF ACCESSING the (PROVIDER) network? Would you say you are...

Source: Ofcom decision-making survey carried out by Saville Rossiter-Base in July to August 2016

Satisfaction with reception/ease of accessing mobile network, by mobile provider –

total market

1111

47

59

44

55

53

36

31

39

33

34

11

3

5

5

5

3

5

7

5

5

3

3

5

3

3

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

TalkTalk

Virgin Media

BT

Sky

All fixedbroadband

Very satisfied Fairly satisfied Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied Fairly dissatisfied Very dissatisfied

%Satisfied

2016

86%

88%

83%

90%

83%

Virgin Media customers reported higher overall satisfaction with the reliability of their

fixed broadband service than fixed broadband customers as a whole (90% vs 86%)

Base: All adults aged 16+ who are the decision-maker and express an opinion on fixed broadband (1527), receiving their service from Sky (416), BT (402), Virgin

Media (357), TalkTalk (170). Providers used by fewer than 100 respondents are not shown individually but are included in the total. ‘Don’t know’ responses have

been excluded from the base.

QI5b. And how satisfied are you with the RELIABILITY of your (SERVICE) from (PROVIDER)? Would you say you are...

Source: Ofcom decision-making survey carried out by Saville Rossiter-Base in July to August 2016

Satisfaction with reliability of service, by fixed broadband provider

1212

64

61

63

69

30

35

32

27

2

2

2

2

3

2

2

2

2

1

1

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Virgin Media

Sky

All Pay TV

All Digital TV

Very satisfied Fairly satisfied Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied Fairly dissatisfied Very dissatisfied%Satisfied

2016

96%

95%

96%

94%

Over nine in ten pay TV customers were satisfied with the reliability of their service

Base: All adults aged 16+ who are the decision-maker and express an opinion on Digital TV (1847) Pay TV (1083), receiving their service from Sky (634), Virgin

Media (304). Providers used by fewer than 100 respondents are not shown individually but are included in the total. ‘Don’t know’ responses have been excluded

from the base.

QT5b. And how satisfied are you with the RELIABILITY of your (SERVICE) from (PROVIDER)? Would you say you are...

Source: Ofcom decision-making survey carried out by Saville Rossiter-Base in July to August 2016

Satisfaction with reliability of service, by Pay TV provider- total market

£

1313

Dissatisfaction with the reliability of service among both mobile and fixed broadband

customers is higher in rural areas compared to urban areas

Base: All adults aged 16+ who are the decision-maker and express an opinion on fixed line (2016, 1713), mobile (2016, 2259), broadband (2016, 1527), digital TV

(2016, 1847). ‘Don’t know’ responses have been excluded from the base.

QL5b/QM5b/QI5b/QT5b. And how satisfied are you with the RELIABILITY of your (SERVICE) from (PROVIDER)? Would you say you are...

Source: Ofcom decision-making survey carried out by Saville Rossiter-Base in July to August 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016

Dissatisfaction with reliability of service, by urbanity: 2013-2016

3 3 3 3 3 2 3 3 36 4 5

12 14 138 10 12 10

6

1923

31

19

11 10 11 9 118 10 8

17 1619

11

4 4 3 2 4 4 2 26

26 4

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

2013 2014 2015 2016 2013 2014 2015 2016 2013 2014 2015 2016

Fixed line Mobile Broadband Digital TV

Total Urban Rural

1414

3731

383534

302526

4238

3436

53484847

44403940

3942

4241

3531

3637

3841

4040

353839

3837

384242

139

910

101113

13710

128

68

67

910

76

710

810

152018

187

810

944

66

68109

47

44

7886633

722223423

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

2016

2015

2014

2013

2016

2015

2014

2013

2016

2015

2014

2013

2016

2015

2014

2013

2016

2015

2014

2013

Very satisfied Fairly satisfied Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied Fairly dissatisfied Very dissatisfied

Lan

dlin

eM

ob

ileB

road

ban

dB

un

dle

Pay

TV

Satisfaction with value for money is highest in the mobile market and lowest in the pay

TV market

Base: All adults aged 16+ who are the decision-maker and express an opinion on fixed line (2016, 503), mobile (2016, 2106), broadband (2016, 272), pay TV (2016,

310), bundle (2016, 1308). ‘Don’t know’ responses have been excluded from the base.

QL5a/QM5a/QI5a/QT5a. And how satisfied are you with the VALUE FOR MONEY of your service from (PROVIDER)? Would you say you are…

Source: Ofcom decision-making survey carried out by Saville Rossiter-Base in July to August 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016

Satisfaction with value for money: 2013-2016 – standalone service

Note: Value for money was asked only of those taking each service outside of a bundle. As a result sample is too small to chart by provider.

%Satisfied

76%

82%

85%

76%

80%

81%

87%

74%

2013 2014

73%

78%

86%

80%

2015

76%

81%

88%

69%

2016

61%60%63%

79%

1515

There has been very little change in satisfaction with speed of fixed broadband service

in the last three years

Base: All adults aged 16+ who are the fixed broadband decision-maker who expressed an opinion (2013, 1254) (2014, 1449), (2015, 1851) (2016, 1521). QI5c. And

how satisfied are you with the SPEED OF SERVICE while online (not just the connection)? Would you say you are...

Note: ‘Don’t know’ responses have been excluded from the base.

Source: Ofcom decision-making survey carried out by Saville Rossiter-Base in July to August 2012-2016

Satisfaction with speed of fixed broadband service while online: 2013-2016

48

43

48

39

35

34

32

36

6

7

6

8

8

6

8

10

4

3

5

8

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

2016

2015

2014

2013

Very satisfied Fairly satisfied Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied Fairly unsatisfied Very dissatisfied %Satisfied

74%

81%

83%

84%

1616

42

57

39

51

48

29

33

40

33

35

8

3

7

6

6

15

5

8

7

8

6

2

5

4

4

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

TalkTalk

Virgin Media

BT

Sky

All fixedbroadband

Very satisfied Fairly satisfied Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied Fairly dissatisfied Very dissatisfied %Satisfied

2016

83%

84%

80%

91%

71%

Customers of Virgin Media have higher satisfaction with their online broadband service

and customers of BT and TalkTalk have lower satisfaction than customers as a whole

Base: All adults aged 16+ who are the decision-maker and express an opinion on fixed broadband (1521), receiving their service from Sky (414), BT (400), Virgin

Media (356), TalkTalk (170). Providers used by fewer than 100 respondents are not shown individually but are included in the total. ‘Don’t know’ responses have

been excluded from the base.

QI5c. And how satisfied are you with the SPEED OF SERVICE while online (not just the connection)? Would you say you are...

Source: Ofcom decision-making survey carried out by Saville Rossiter-Base in July to August 2016

Satisfaction with speed of fixed broadband service while online, by fixed broadband provider