Mobile phone charges halve in last five years Ofcom report reveals
Media watchdog Ofcom has revealed that the cost of mobile phone charges have falled by almost half in the last five years, while complaints about telecoms services have fallen by almost a fifth in the same period.
In publishing its fifth annual Consumer Experience Report, Ofcom has outlined the main challenges that must be addressed in the communications market to deliver better service for consumers.
The report says that mobile call charges fallen from 15.1p a minute to 8.8p per minute, which has driven take up of mobile phones, and that consumers are now more likely to own a mobile phone and a landline.
Broadband take up has also increased in the previous five years too, growing from 123,000 lines in September 2005, to 7.23 million in October 2010, growing from 45% of broadband in households in 2006, to 73%.
Consumer research by Ofcom shows that consumers remain satisfied with their communications services and providers, however an increase in consumer dissatisfaction with broadband speeds has risen from 14% to 19% over the last year.
The gap is also widening between speeds being delivered by ISPs and those that are advertised, with a new code having been implemented which allows consumers to leave their contracts should they achieve speeds significantly below those advised at point-of-sale.
Meanwhile, despite the overall decline in complains about silent calls received by Ofcom, complaints have increased from 6600 in 2009 to 8600 in 2010.
In an effort to prevent silent calls being made, as of February 2011, companies will no longer be able to call consumers unless they have the presence of a live operator more than once a day, while the maximum penalty for persistently breaching the rule has risen from £50,000 to £2m.
Finally, over half of business consumers have been found to use their mobile phones to access emails and the internet and the majority of business consumers have also said that they are satisfied with their overall experience with their communications providers, the report states.