Woman complaining via the Ofcom website on her phone

Latest telecoms and pay-TV complaints revealed

Phones and broadband Service quality News and updates
Published: 27 April 2022
Last updated: 17 March 2023

Ofcom has today published the latest league tables reflecting complaints we receive about the UK’s major home phone, broadband, mobile and pay-TV firms.

The quarterly report reveals the number of complaints made to Ofcom between October and December last year.
Complaints figures overall decreased slightly over this period and remain at all-time low levels.

Nearly all providers across all sectors reduced or maintained the same level of complaints from the previous quarter.
In summary, our data shows that:

  • Shell Energy generated the most broadband complaints, mainly driven by faults and service issues;
  • Alongside TalkTalk, Shell Energy was also the most complained-about landline provider;
  • Sky and EE attracted the fewest complaints for broadband and landline services;
  • EE, Sky Mobile, Tesco Mobile, iD Mobile and BT Mobile all generated the fewest pay-monthly mobile complaints;
  • Virgin Mobile and Vodafone were the most complained-about mobile operators; and
  • Sky also had the fewest complaints about pay-TV, with Virgin Media attracting the most.

It’s encouraging that overall complaints remain at record lows, but that doesn’t mean customer service is where it should be across the board.

There are still big differences in performance between some providers. So it’s definitely worth shopping around and voting with your feet, if you’re not happy with the service you’re getting.

Fergal Farragher, Ofcom’s Consumer Protection Director

The information we publish about complaints helps people compare companies when shopping around for a new provider and encourages firms to improve their performance.

Our service quality hub offers further information on how people can choose the best provider for them. Shortly, we’ll also be publishing our annual Comparing Customer Service report, which shines a light on the performance of the UK’s main mobile, broadband and home phone providers.

Although Ofcom cannot resolve individual complaints, we offer consumers advice, and the information we receive can lead to us launching investigations.

Anyone experiencing problems should complain to their provider first. If they are unhappy with the outcome, people can take the complaint to an independent ombudsman, who will look at the case and make a judgment on it.

Home broadband complaints per 100,000 customers

Table showing broadband complaints per 100,000 subscribers. It illustrates the providers receiving the fewest complaints at the top of the table and those receiving the most complaints are placed at the bottom of the table. The results are as follows: Sky 4, EE 5, BT 7, Plusnet 8, industry average 9, Virgin Media 13, Vodafone 13, TalkTalk 14, Shell Energy 15.

Landline complaints per 100,000 customers

Table showing landline complaints per 100,000 subscribers. It illustrates the providers receiving the fewest complaints at the top of the table and those receiving the most complaints are placed at the bottom of the table. The results are as follows: Sky 2, EE 3, BT 5, Vodafone 6, Plusnet 6, industry average 6, Virgin Media 8, Shell Energy 9, TalkTalk 10.

Pay-monthly mobile complaints per 100,000 customers

Table showing mobile pay-monthly complaints per 100,000 subscribers. It illustrates the providers receiving the fewest complaints at the top of the table and those receiving the most complaints are placed at the bottom of the table. The results are as follows: Tesco Mobile 1, Sky Mobile 1, EE 1, id Mobile 2, BT Mobile 2, O2 2, industry average 2, Three 3, Vodafone 3, Virgin Media 4.

Pay-TV complaints per 100,000 customers

Table showing pay-TV complaints per 100,000 subscribers. It illustrates the providers receiving the fewest complaints at the top of the table and those receiving the most complaints are placed at the bottom of the table. The results are as follows: Sky 1, industry average 3, TalkTalk 3, BT 4, Virgin Media 7.

Relative volume of complaints per service per 100,000 subscribers

Graph showing trend data on residential consumer complaints received by Ofcom across landline, fixed broadband, pay-monthly mobile and pay TV services, by communications provider. It shows the relative volume of complaints per sector per 100,000 subscribers for the Q1 2011 – Q4 2021 period. The relative volume of complaints per 100,000 subscribers decreased for fixed broadband from 10 to 9. Landline, pay-TV and mobile pay monthly remained the same at 6, 3 and 2 respectively.

Notes to editors

  1. Where the actual measurable difference between providers’ number of complaints per 100,000 customers is less than 1, we consider their results to be comparable. Here, the following fixed broadband providers’ number of complaints per 100,000 customers should be considered comparable: 1. Sky and EE; 2. BT and Plusnet; 3. Plusnet and industry average; 4. Virgin Media and Vodafone; and 5. Vodafone and TalkTalk.
  2. Where the actual measurable difference between providers’ number of complaints per 100,000 customers is less than 1, we consider their results to be comparable. Here, the following landline providers’ number of complaints per 100,000 customers should be considered comparable: 1. Sky and EE; 2. BT, Vodafone, Plusnet and industry average; 3. Shell Energy and TalkTalk.
  3. The actual measurable difference between the following pay-monthly mobile providers’ number of complaints per 100,000 customers was less than one and so their results should be considered comparable: 1. Tesco Mobile, Sky Mobile, EE, iD Mobile and BT Mobile; 2. Sky Mobile, EE, iD Mobile, BT Mobile, O2 and industry average; 3. iD Mobile, BT Mobile, O2, industry average, Three and Vodafone; 4. Vodafone and Virgin Mobile.
  4. The actual measurable difference between the following pay TV providers’ number of complaints per 100,000 customers was less than one and so their results should be considered comparable: 1. Industry average and TalkTalk; and 2. TalkTalk and BT.

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