TalkTalk and 3 top Ofcom’s complaints list

Communications regulator Ofcom has today revealed the most complained-about telecoms providers, with TalkTalk and 3 Mobile topping the list.

Ofcom receives on average 450 telecoms complaints a day, and it hopes that by publishing the complaints data telecoms companies will have an incentive to improve their performance.

The figures show how many complaints were received, per 1,000 customers, between October 2010 and February 2011.

TalkTalk received the worst result for broadband services with 1.27 complaints per 1,000 customers.

Ofcom points to a peak in complaints against the company in November 2010 after it came under scrutiny for billing customers who had cancelled their services.

BT came in second place at 0.61 complaints per 1,000 customers, with BSkyB receiving 0.39, and Virgin Media 0.20.

In the mobile services sector it was 3 Mobile that came worse off with 0.15 complaints per 1,000 customers.

T-Mobile followed closely behind with 0.13 complaints per 1,000 customers, Orange received 0.10, Vodafone 0.09, and O2 a mere 0.4.

"Publishing the numbers of complaints by provider is good news for consumers, who will now be able to make an informed choice about the provider that is best for them – and give telecoms providers an incentive to improve their service," said Communications Consumer Panel acting chair Bob Warner.