Brussels, 12/07/2011 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission is becoming increasingly impatient at internet service providers' failure to respond to demands from European consumers. According to a new Eurobarometer survey, one in four Europeans do not feel that their internet quality and speed are up to what they feel they have a right to expect from their supplier. In addition, 65% of people limit their mobile phone calls because of cost concerns. “Consumers are telling us loud and clear that they are worried they are not getting the internet speeds and quality of service they have been promised. National authorities must take appropriate measures to ensure that operators respect new EU rules requiring to them to be transparent on connection speeds and service quality”, said Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes. She gave clear warning that she would not hesitate to adopt more prescriptive measures, “or even legislation if it is needed”.
The E-Communications Household Survey was carried out between 9 February and 8 March 2011 on a sample of 27,000 households representative of the EU population. The key findings were:
- Preference for packages of services: 42% of households have bought “bundled” internet, phone and TV services from a single provider, saying that the main advantage of these packages was the convenience of having a single service provider, a single invoice and competitive prices.
- Privacy concerns: 88% of respondents said they would like to be informed if their personal data gathered by the telecom provider had been lost, stolen or altered in any way.
- Few consumers change operator: six out of ten households say they have never considered switching to another service provider and only 12% of households are “active switchers”, seeking out and changing to other packages of services. A further 12% would like to switch but are hindered for one reason or another, while 77% of households never switch their bundle. Among the obstacles to switching are the risk of a temporary loss of service, the risk of having to pay for more than one provider during the switching process and the lack of clarity about the steps required for switching.
- Main concern: quality of services: In addition to the problems found with internet connection speeds and connection breakdowns, one in four respondents reports difficulties in connecting to the mobile network and a similar proportion reports that mobile communications have been cut off whilst on a call.
- Concerns over cost of mobile and smartphone use: 65% of respondents are now limiting their mobile calls, because of concerns about the costs. Similarly, half of those with internet access on their smartphone limit use due to worries about cost. However, use of voice services over the internet for free or at cheap rates, from a computer or a WiFi-connected device, is growing, with 28% of households with internet access making this type of voice call, a 6% increase since the last survey.
- Mobile only: 27% of households only have access to the public telephone network from a mobile phone - a proportion which has increased in 17 member states since the last survey and which reaches levels higher than 50% of households in five countries (the Czech Republic, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia).
The Commission has asked the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) to undertake a rigorous fact-finding exercise on barriers to changing operators, blocking or “throttling” internet traffic (for example voice over internet services), transparency and quality of service. The Commission will publish evidence from the BEREC investigation by the end of 2011 and, in the event of any outstanding problems, the Commission will assess the need for more stringent measures. The Commission is also conducting a study to compare advertised and actual internet speeds. Data will be available at the end of 2011. (I.L./transl.rt)