Orange is most complained about mobile network

The UK's telecoms tough-nut Ofcom has published the latest figures for customer complaints about mobile networks. And this time Orange gets the wooden spoon for making its customers madder than most.

The watchdog, which cracks the whip of regulatory discipline over UK telcos, found Orange garnered the most gripes between October and December last year, with 0.17 complaints per 1,000 customers -- up from 0.07 in Ofcom's previous survey.

The rocketing rate of complaints can be explained by Orange announcing increased monthly price plans for all customers, including those tied into existing contracts. Yep, taking more money away from people will do that, as Chancellor George Osborne is currently realising -- thanks to his new "granny tax".

The second most moaned about mobile service was Three, which harvested 0.15 complaints per 1,000 customers. Ofcom said complaints about Three continue to be driven by disputed charges and customer service gripes.

T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Vodafone were all tied in third place, with 0.07 complaints per 1,000 customers.

As in all previous quarters, the least complained about mobile provider over Ofcom's survey period was O2 -- with a neatly matching 0.02 complaints per 1,000 customers.

Ofcom also measures moans about UK broadband providers, which it said are much higher overall than mobile-related complaints.

TalkTalk continues to be the most griped about fixed broadband provider, according to Ofcom's stats, with 0.61 complaints per 1,000 customers. Line faults and service issues were the most common TalkTalk-related whinges.

The least complained about broadband providers over this period were Sky and Virgin, with 0.17 and 0.18 complaints per 1,000 customers respectively.

Are you an irate Orange customer railing about raised prices or is Orange Wednesdays the apple of your eye? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or daub 'em all over our Facebook wall.