Orange sees 2.5% of its broadband customers leave
Thursday 07 August 2008 14:07:05 by Andrew Ferguson
Most of the bigger broadband providers are gaining customers, but Orange broadband has been having a sticky period for a while now, with customer numbers down from 1.142 million customers in September 2007, to 1.063 million at the end of June 2008. In the last quarter the total number of subscribers was 2.5% down, what is more worrying for the company is that this means more than 2.5% decided to leave, as one would expect to see some new sign-ups in the quarter too.
The full quarters results are available on www.francetelecom.com. Revenue was down some 7.7%, but the number of unbundled lines within the UK for Orange rose from 23% in 2007 to 40% currently. In theory putting customers onto a LLU network should provide cost savings, but the costs of rolling out a LLU network are high, and as fibre based networks edge ever closer companies will need to be careful to ensure they do not over invest in LLU without considering the future path to a more fibre lead future.
The other large provider to have shown a decline in customer numbers has been AOL Broadband, but most other large providers are still showing a growth in numbers, with new entrant O2 managing to add a healthy number of customers each quarter. So one can be sure that there will be boardrooms around the UK now looking at why some providers are still able to attract new sign-ups to broadband, and as the market increasingly becomes a switchers market, why are existing broadband users not switching to them.
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Posted by
keith_thfc 14 days ago
Was only a matter of time before the likes of Orange and AOL lose customers after treating them with such utter comtempt in recent years.
Was only a matter of time before the likes of Orange and AOL lose customers after treating them with such utter comtempt in recent years.
Posted by
MeOde 14 days ago
No surprise ... I will be joining the exodus once my contract is up .. extremely poor service all round
No surprise ... I will be joining the exodus once my contract is up .. extremely poor service all round
Posted by
Pigmaster 14 days ago
AOL has always been known as A$$holes On Line from the early days of the net due to AOL's simpleton attitude of "we know best" and it's insitance of only using it's software for net access and they would also screen out certain words from it search engine results like "Death" etc. Today they are different and are just a bad company who still sign up newbies but as soon as the contract is out they fly the nest to another ADSL provider.
AOL has always been known as A$$holes On Line from the early days of the net due to AOL's simpleton attitude of "we know best" and it's insitance of only using it's software for net access and they would also screen out certain words from it search engine results like "Death" etc. Today they are different and are just a bad company who still sign up newbies but as soon as the contract is out they fly the nest to another ADSL provider.
Posted by
Pigmaster 14 days ago
Orange on the other hand were a good company but again "they know best" attitude has meant that the orange system crawls with bad support and poor service. Investment is needs but is never instigated.
Orange on the other hand were a good company but again "they know best" attitude has meant that the orange system crawls with bad support and poor service. Investment is needs but is never instigated.
Posted by
Pigmaster 14 days ago
If you wanted an ISP you would go with a supplier who knows what they are doing, not a mobile phone operator who buys a bit of kit and a few engineers but runs the management with an pre-it attitude.
I once had an IT manager who did not even know how to tuen his PC on and would manage the IT infrastructure not by listening to me of other senior engineers but from is buddies on the golf course who in return would ask their buddies. This is how Orange and AOL run their business, if not then we would have proper investment and a fully working service.
If you wanted an ISP you would go with a supplier who knows what they are doing, not a mobile phone operator who buys a bit of kit and a few engineers but runs the management with an pre-it attitude.
I once had an IT manager who did not even know how to tuen his PC on and would manage the IT infrastructure not by listening to me of other senior engineers but from is buddies on the golf course who in return would ask their buddies. This is how Orange and AOL run their business, if not then we would have proper investment and a fully working service.
Posted by
equinnfcca 13 days ago
As a frustrated Orange customer (now a happy O2 user) I am delighted that Orange are getting what's truly deserved. Technical problems are always possible but poor customer service is never acceptable.
As a frustrated Orange customer (now a happy O2 user) I am delighted that Orange are getting what's truly deserved. Technical problems are always possible but poor customer service is never acceptable.
Posted by
CARPETBURN 13 days ago
The futures Bright the future for many isnt Orange :D
The futures Bright the future for many isnt Orange :D
Posted by
Thalgrum 11 days ago
I was an orange broadband customer up till about 15 months ago, the main problem was the constant issue of my broadband turning into dialup between the hours of 4pm and 1am.
despite about 10 separate bt engineer visits, they never resolved the issue, finally I got someone to admit that it wasnt a fault at all, but so called server crowding.
so then I left and went to sky..
I was an orange broadband customer up till about 15 months ago, the main problem was the constant issue of my broadband turning into dialup between the hours of 4pm and 1am.
despite about 10 separate bt engineer visits, they never resolved the issue, finally I got someone to admit that it wasnt a fault at all, but so called server crowding.
so then I left and went to sky..
Posted by
Thalgrum 11 days ago
the other problem I had, was their customer server and tech support, they seem to have moved it all to india, and to be honest, the people working there were untrained and clueless, I knew more about my service than they did most of the time.
people claiming to be called Michael or carol, who can barely understand or speak english, do not make good customer service staff...
the other problem I had, was their customer server and tech support, they seem to have moved it all to india, and to be honest, the people working there were untrained and clueless, I knew more about my service than they did most of the time.
people claiming to be called Michael or carol, who can barely understand or speak english, do not make good customer service staff...
Posted by
Banderanti 11 days ago
I have suffered Orange for 12 months and agree that both their technical support and customer service leave a lot to be desired. Any company which hides behind a telephone number and PO Box number certainly cannot be trusted.
On the other hand my connection speed remains fairly steady at around 5.5Mb on an 'up to 8Mb' account so I guess it is not all bad.
I have suffered Orange for 12 months and agree that both their technical support and customer service leave a lot to be desired. Any company which hides behind a telephone number and PO Box number certainly cannot be trusted.
On the other hand my connection speed remains fairly steady at around 5.5Mb on an 'up to 8Mb' account so I guess it is not all bad.
Posted by
rsprosen 10 days ago
I am at the end of my contract now and looking to join the happy band of people looking for better service. I e mailed a simple query 7 days ago and they have not bothered to respond. Absolute rubbish. BT provide circa 7300K but the ISP chokes it down to less than 4K. To get the MAC code for a move from Orange call 0844 871 0079
I am at the end of my contract now and looking to join the happy band of people looking for better service. I e mailed a simple query 7 days ago and they have not bothered to respond. Absolute rubbish. BT provide circa 7300K but the ISP chokes it down to less than 4K. To get the MAC code for a move from Orange call 0844 871 0079
Posted by
scottie4642 10 days ago
I changed this month from Orange to TalkTalk and my broadband connection is 5 times faster i.e. 2Mbps instead of 0.4Mbps. Althis for LESS than I was paying Orange!
I changed this month from Orange to TalkTalk and my broadband connection is 5 times faster i.e. 2Mbps instead of 0.4Mbps. Althis for LESS than I was paying Orange!
Posted by
paulbgarwin 10 days ago
my brother is on orange and is always calling me for help as he can never get through to orange.i am with talktalk and maintain a connection of 2.7 to 3.2 at all times and only lost incoming mail once in 18 months
my brother is on orange and is always calling me for help as he can never get through to orange.i am with talktalk and maintain a connection of 2.7 to 3.2 at all times and only lost incoming mail once in 18 months
Posted by
sweepdog 10 days ago
Pigmaster - Re Orange being a mobile phone company (and to be honest my experience of them as a mobile phone company isn't that hot either)...
They were probably fine in the freeserve days. Things probably weren't too bad in the early wanadoo days either, but if they were taken over by orange and were locked in contracts, there was little they could do without buying their way out of the contract.
It's good to see people voting with their feet though now they out of contract,
Pigmaster - Re Orange being a mobile phone company (and to be honest my experience of them as a mobile phone company isn't that hot either)...
They were probably fine in the freeserve days. Things probably weren't too bad in the early wanadoo days either, but if they were taken over by orange and were locked in contracts, there was little they could do without buying their way out of the contract.
It's good to see people voting with their feet though now they out of contract,
Posted by
steve1402 9 days ago
I think people are getting more "broadband savvy". If Orange are offering a poor quality/value service, people will start to look elsewhere, it's only natural.
O2 did well to get the iphone contract. It now has loads of customers wanting to switch to it's broadband service, which gets highly rated and is great value if you are on an o2 contract, and there are other well thought of providers talked about on the forums.
I think people are getting more "broadband savvy". If Orange are offering a poor quality/value service, people will start to look elsewhere, it's only natural.
O2 did well to get the iphone contract. It now has loads of customers wanting to switch to it's broadband service, which gets highly rated and is great value if you are on an o2 contract, and there are other well thought of providers talked about on the forums.
Posted by
gordonthi 9 days ago
As someone stuck halfway through a contract with these jokers, I cant wait to leave. The Indian Customer Service is worse than useless. Their support line haven't a clue. Signing up with them has been the worse consumer choice I have ever made and it seems the only way they can retain customers is by enforcing the 18 month contract, not by good service. On an 8Mbps service my line can support up to 5, but I average just over 1Mbps. Even in the wee small hours I still never get above 2Mbps. The answer from 5 calls to tech support? "Sorry I cant help any further!!!"
As someone stuck halfway through a contract with these jokers, I cant wait to leave. The Indian Customer Service is worse than useless. Their support line haven't a clue. Signing up with them has been the worse consumer choice I have ever made and it seems the only way they can retain customers is by enforcing the 18 month contract, not by good service. On an 8Mbps service my line can support up to 5, but I average just over 1Mbps. Even in the wee small hours I still never get above 2Mbps. The answer from 5 calls to tech support? "Sorry I cant help any further!!!"
Posted by
bluecar1 8 days ago
when switching provider try and avoid long contracts as they are difficult / expensive to get out if you have a problem with support / speed or phorm
bear in mind the BT, Talk talk and Virgin media are due to trial phorm / Webwise which monitors ALL you internet traffic and pages just to serve you adverts TARGETED AT YOU based on what you have looked at in the last 2 weeks
orange and sky are also reported to be considering the system as well
look at https://nodpi.org for more information
peter
when switching provider try and avoid long contracts as they are difficult / expensive to get out if you have a problem with support / speed or phorm
bear in mind the BT, Talk talk and Virgin media are due to trial phorm / Webwise which monitors ALL you internet traffic and pages just to serve you adverts TARGETED AT YOU based on what you have looked at in the last 2 weeks
orange and sky are also reported to be considering the system as well
look at https://nodpi.org for more information
peter
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a lot of unhappy users out there....
http://www.ispreview.co.uk/review/products/208.html