Network outages: the impact on the UK's consumers

We are excited to launch our new research by Savanta telling the human story behind communications network outages - the losses in connection with loved ones, missed opportunities, wasted time and inconvenient workarounds, to name a few - and consumers' recommendations for improvements.

When networks go down, through no fault of their own, consumers and micro-businesses across the UK are left more susceptible to the risk of harm and exclusion.  Often with no power in their hands to resolve the issue, and little communication from their provider about the length of the outage, consumers (including in households with specific needs that make them more reliant on communications services) are left isolated and in some cases fearful of the consequences.

We wanted to know what consumers did, what impact the outage had on them at that time and later on, and on those they live with or help, whether at home or in other parts of the country. How do communications providers communicate with their customers, and how proactively? What actions would be helpful to protect consumers? We wanted to understand how recent network outages had affected consumers and to listen in-depth to case studies from the length and breadth of the UK to illustrate consumer and micro-business journeys from across the UK, including rural and urban locations.

While we stipulated to Savanta when commissioning the research that the outages covered were not to have been due to human error at the consumer's end, we were interested in learning about a range of causes of outages, from winter storms, to engineering works, to help us to understand what communications providers can do to help consumers when services go down.

We are also publishing an infographic which sets out the consumer journey across those interviewed, listed as a 'general consumer' with no additional needs or challenges, a micro-business owner, a rural resident, an urban resident and a household with specific needs. 

Next steps

We have been pleased to see Ofcom taking firm action to investigate and where appropriate take enforcement action against providers that leave their customers isolated, stressed and disconnected, like some of the people in our research. We urge Ofcom to look at lessons that can be learned from their investigations, our research, and other robust sources of information and we will continue to work with consumer advocates across the UK to elevate the voices of consumers receiving unfair treatment from their communications providers.

Report and infographic (if you require these in a different format please contact us at contact@communicationsconumerpanel.org.uk)

Network outages: UK consumer impacts
Network outages: consumer journey infographic