O2 says UK users wasting millions on wrong broadband packages

Most users have more broadband than they know what to do with, apparently

Most internet users don't need high-performance broadband, says O2

Mobile operator O2 published a study today suggesting millions of broadband users were wasting money buying broadband services too fast for their needs.

O2 head of home and broadband Felix Geyr said, "Sixty-two per cent of broadband consumers in our survey would prefer their ISP to provide packages based on their specific needs."

He added that the industry therefore needs to "tailor its services to people’s needs, help consumers understand exactly what they should be buying and avoid marketing based solely on speed".

The survey of 2,000 consumers found that although the average UK user has an "up to 20Mbit/s" broadband package, the large majority only require an up to 8Mbit/s package.

O2's reasoning is based on what customers said their top three most frequently used applications were.

Email was the top application for 77 per cent of respondents, while 74 per cent said they used broadband for general web browsing, and 51 per cent for paying bills and online banking.

"On the other hand," said O2, "services that require high bandwidth and more expensive packages are used much less frequently."

These include streaming multimedia content through iPlayer or other streaming applications (18 per cent), and downloading music and films, five per cent and three per cent respectively.

Thinkbroadband.com co-founder Sebastien Lahtinen said that O2's research "clearly highlights the need for the industry as a whole to re-think they way it sells broadband".

"Consumers need to be educated about what kind of service they need to cover their daily usage and the industry needs to help them to make informed choices, " said Lahtinen.

"While some users will want the fastest possible package, others may find they can save money by picking a package that is more suitable to their specific needs," he pointed out.