Report: Complaints about broadband, landline, mobile and pay-TV services

As the UK’s communications regulator, Ofcom receives complaints from customers about their landline, fixed broadband, pay-monthly mobile and pay-TV services.

To better understand the reasons for dissatisfaction among residential customers in our sectors, we compile that data and determine the number of complaints received by provider and by service. To compare the performance of providers, on a quarterly basis we publish the number of complaints that we received about them relative to the size of their customer bases (i.e. per 100,000 customers).

Overall trends

In the quarter from April to June (Q2 2024), complaints to Ofcom remained similar to the previous quarter (Q1 2024: January to March 2024). Complaints about fixed broadband, landline, and pay-monthly mobile decreased and complaints about pay-TV stayed the same.

NOW Broadband generated the most fixed broadband complaints. Complaints about NOW Broadband fell from the previous quarter. Customer complaints were primarily driven by how their complaints were handled.
The least complained about fixed broadband provider was Sky.
EE was the most complained about landline provider. Complaints about EE saw an increase from the previous quarter. Customer complaints were mainly due to issues with faults, services and provisioning.
Utility Warehouse generated the least landline complaints.
The most complained about pay-monthly mobile provider was O2. Customer complaints were primarily driven by how their complaints were handled.
EE, Tesco Mobile and Vodafone were the least complained about pay-monthly mobile providers.
EE and Virgin Media were the most complained about pay-TV providers.
Sky and TalkTalk were the least complained about pay-TV providers.

See below for information about the comparability of certain providers’ number of complaints. Our background and methodology document goes into more detail.

The chart below shows the relative volume of complaints we have received for broadband, landline, pay-monthly mobile and pay-TV services. You can use the slider to filter by year.

Relative volume of complaints per 100,000 customers

Taking a year-on-year comparison, the relative volume of complaints about fixed broadband, landline, and pay TV decreased and complaints about pay-monthly mobile stayed the same.

League tables & key complaints

Fixed broadband

1/2

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.

2/2

Reasons for complaining about broadband services. It shows the key complaints drivers for the industry average and the worst-performing provider.

_{*Shell’s total number of Broadband complaints is 53. Shell and TalkTalk’s joint complaints would be 11.43 per 100,000 (4th position in the table).}

Landline

1/2

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.

2/2

Reasons for complaining about landline services. It shows the key complaints drivers for the industry average and the worst-performing provider.

_{*Shell’s total number of Landline complaints is 32. Shell and TalkTalk’s joint complaints would be 6.43 per 100,000 (5th position in the table).}

Pay-monthly mobile

1/2

Mobile 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.

2/2

Reasons for complaining about mobile services. It shows the key complaints drivers for the industry average and the worst-performing provider.

Pay-TV

1/2

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.

2/2

Reasons for complaining about pay-TV services. It shows the key complaints drivers for the industry average and the worst-performing provider.

Comparability of complaints per 100,000 customers

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. Within the following sectors, we consider the listed providers to be comparable:

Fixed broadband:

TalkTalk, Industry Average and BT;
EE and Virgin Media.

Landline:

Plusnet, TalkTalk and Industry Average

Pay-monthly mobile:

Tesco Mobile, EE and Vodafone;
EE, Vodafone and Sky Mobile;
Vodafone, Sky Mobile and iD Mobile;
iD Mobile, Three and Industry Average.

Pay-TV:

Sky and TalkTalk;
Virgin Media and EE.

Overall complaints by sector

The chart below shows complaints for all providers in each of the four sectors.

Comparing different providers

To compare two or more providers’ performance, select the service and then the providers you want to compare from the lists on the right.

Complaints by provider

Compare complaints for a provider across multiple sectors by using the options on the right.

More information

The underlying data is available in CSV format. We also include overall trend data for pay-as-you-go mobile complaints.

You can also read the report’s background and methodology.

Older reports

Older reports are available via the National Archives.

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