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Three and TalkTalk named worst network and ISP, again

Ofcom reveals customer complaints are highest for Three and TalkTalk, with O2 and Sky distinguishing themelves.

Richard Trenholm Former Movie and TV Senior Editor
Richard Trenholm was CNET's film and TV editor, covering the big screen, small screen and streaming. A member of the Film Critic's Circle, he's covered technology and culture from London's tech scene to Europe's refugee camps to the Sundance film festival.
Expertise Films, TV, Movies, Television, Technology
Richard Trenholm
2 min read

Three is the worst phone network, according to new figures. Telecoms watchdog Ofcom reveals customer complaints are highest for the 3G phone network, while the worst broadband provider is yet again TalkTalk.

Figures reflect complaints to Ofcom between April and June 2012. Three's customers mostly threw their toys out of the pram over disputed charges and poor customer service.

Earlier this year, Orange briefly took the wooden spoon, but that aside Three and TalkTalk have been in last place for the past couple of years.

Few of the networks distinguished themselves: 3UK, T-Mobile, Vodafone and Orange all had an above-average level of complaints. O2 was the network with the fewest number of angry customers.

In these latest figures Ofcom distinguishes between those of us on phone contracts and those of us on pay as you go, revealing the interesting fact that pay-monthly customers are more likely to complain to Ofcom than pay-as-you-go customers; in fact 95 per cent of mobile complaints to Ofcom come from people on contract.

Meanwhile, TalkTalk is yet again named as the worst Internet service provider. TalkTalk consistently saw complaint levels higher than the average, with landline customers mainly getting steamed up about billing and customer service, and broadband customers getting narky about line faults and other service issues.

There is some good news for beleaguered TalkTalk, however: it was hit with the least complaints about the landline services since Ofcom first began publishing complaints data back in 2010.

On the subject of landlines -- remember them? -- Virgin Media had the least complaints, while Sky was top performer for broadband. Sky also boasts the happiest TV customers, with BT Vision generating the most complaints about a paid TV service.

What's your phone and broadband provider like? Is Three awful? Is TalkTalk really that bad? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.