Broadband News
News, views and analysis
Ofcom to conduct further research on UK broadband speeds
25 Feb 2010 | 11.10 Europe/London
SamKnows has been awarded a contract by Ofcom (the UK communications regulator) for the provision of research and data collection in relation to UK fixed-line broadband speeds delivered by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and is now looking for volunteers to join the project.
It’s been over six months since the Ofcom UK Broadband Speeds 2009 report was published, and the new contract extends the monitoring period for two years to April 2012, a period during which consumers can in our view expect significant changes in broadband performance as faster next-generation services are launched.
Ofcom has commissioned SamKnows to conduct research to monitor and analyse the performance of various fixed-line broadband services delivered to UK residential customers. But to do this, SamKnows needs your help.
SamKnows has developed a ‘White Box’ that sits in the consumer’s home, which does not monitor the home network or web traffic, but solely focuses on the relevant ISP’s network. People who volunteer for this project will be given access to their own data so that they can track the performance of their broadband connection.
Anyone interested in joining the SamKnows broadband monitoring project or looking for more information on the work can sign up here.
As regards the 2009 project, Alex Salter, CEO of SamKnows, commented that:
“What started out as a project to monitor and report on the UK’s broadband connectivity in general, it instead highlighted that a clear discrepancy exists between what the ISPs are saying and what the end consumer is actually receiving.”
“What we’re looking to measure in the forthcoming project is how this ISP performance will improve as consumers switch to services which are being advertised as significantly faster.”
To view or download the original 2009 Ofcom report, go to:
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/research/telecoms/reports/broadband_speeds/broadband_speeds/
It’s been over six months since the Ofcom UK Broadband Speeds 2009 report was published, and the new contract extends the monitoring period for two years to April 2012, a period during which consumers can in our view expect significant changes in broadband performance as faster next-generation services are launched.
Ofcom has commissioned SamKnows to conduct research to monitor and analyse the performance of various fixed-line broadband services delivered to UK residential customers. But to do this, SamKnows needs your help.
SamKnows has developed a ‘White Box’ that sits in the consumer’s home, which does not monitor the home network or web traffic, but solely focuses on the relevant ISP’s network. People who volunteer for this project will be given access to their own data so that they can track the performance of their broadband connection.
Anyone interested in joining the SamKnows broadband monitoring project or looking for more information on the work can sign up here.
As regards the 2009 project, Alex Salter, CEO of SamKnows, commented that:
“What started out as a project to monitor and report on the UK’s broadband connectivity in general, it instead highlighted that a clear discrepancy exists between what the ISPs are saying and what the end consumer is actually receiving.”
“What we’re looking to measure in the forthcoming project is how this ISP performance will improve as consumers switch to services which are being advertised as significantly faster.”
To view or download the original 2009 Ofcom report, go to:
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/research/telecoms/reports/broadband_speeds/broadband_speeds/