18 May 2007
Following BT's declaration yesterday that it had regained its crown as Britain's top broadband provider, telecommunications analysts have now declared that the race to become top dog for 2007's broadband market is down to just two providers.
BT added 245,000 broadband customers - plus a further 195,000 through its acquisition of PlusNet - in the first quarter of this year, compared to Virgin Media's 87,000.
The price comparison and switching website uSwitch.com said that only Virgin Media, the provider recently ousted from the top broadband provider slot, could rival BT's dominance now and suggested that the younger, smaller competitors needed to "pick up the pace" if they wanted to compete.
Steve Weller, Head of Communications Services at uSwitch.com, also said that there was increasing evidence that customers were choosing superior service over value for money packages.
"The fact that customers are selecting BT over its younger competitors is a clear signal that the issue of customer service has not gone away. Our more recent broadband satisfaction figures ranked BT second for customer service yet fifth for value for money."
He continued: "This can be seen today with half of BT's new broadband customers opting for higher value packages, with a willingness to pay more for faster speeds and higher downloads."
Mr Weller also urged broadband providers to bring Britain's broadband usage in line with our European counterparts, stating that while it was "encouraging" to hear that BT was ahead of schedule regarding the implementation of the 21st century network, more should be done to catch up consumers in France, for example, with issues like bandwidth speed.
So much choice, but don't panic - it's easy to get yourself a great deal on broadband using uSwitch.com. If you're confused about technicalities, the help pages throughout our calculator are on hand at each step of the sign up process to answer all your questions. Find providers in your area and compare packages using our free and impartial service. Sign up to broadband today.
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