Half Of Broadband Users ‘Don’t Care’ About Speed

Almost half of U.K. broadband users don’t care how fast their Internet connection is, as long as it works, a new survey has found.

In a study of 5,200 U.K. consumers carried out by YouGov and commissioned by BSkyB, only 30 percent said they were frustrated with the consistency of their Internet speed, with 44 percent claiming they “don’t know” or “don’t care” how fast their connection is.

Meanwhile, just six percent said that speed alone was important, with 39 percent preferring value for money and 36 percent claiming that customer satisfaction was their top priority.

“What this research has done is to cut through the noise around broadband speeds and listen to what the majority of broadband users say about what matters to them,” said Delia Bushell, Sky’s Director of Broadband and Telephony. “In short, people want broadband that works, transparency over what they are getting, and a price that suits their pocket.

Those results are consistent with some studies of U.S. consumers as well. "Speed" often seems more important to service providers as a marketing platform than it is to buyers of broadband access services, who seem to be signaling by their buying, not just their attitudes when surveyed, that beyond a certain point, additional speed doesn't provide enough value to justify spending the extra money.

Half Of Broadband Users ‘Don’t Care’ About Speed | eWEEK Europe UK