More than one in six struggling to afford broadband in the UK
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Faye Sutton
| 29 January 2021
As the third UK lockdown continues, more than one in six people are struggling to afford their broadband, according to charity Citizens Advice.
Virgin Gig1 4Nov 2020

This comes at a time when people are more reliant than ever on broadband to work from home, help children with home schooling, and order essentials.

Citizens Advice and Opinium surveyed 2,008 adults online, between 15-19 January 2021. This question was shown to 82% of respondents (1,646) with broadband. Data was weighted to be nationally representative of the UK adult population.

The survey found broadband customers in receipt of low-income benefits, such as Universal Credit, were almost twice as likely to struggle to pay their bill as other customers, and towards the end of last year, an estimated 2.3 million people had fallen behind on their broadband bill.

In December, regulator Ofcom found that if households were paying the average £37 a month for landline and broadband, this would take around four times the proportion of a low-income household’s budget, compared with an average household. It “strongly urged” all providers to consider offering cheaper tariffs for those on a low income or who are struggling financially.

And according to Cable.co.uk’s annual global broadband pricing study, released last month, UK broadband is poor value for money.

Citizens Advice is calling on the government and Ofcom to make it compulsory for all providers to offer affordable tariffs to people on low-income benefits. Recently Hyperoptic and Community Fibre offered free broadband packages to what they identified as vulnerable families.

Alistair Cromwell, acting chief executive of Citizens Advice, said: “The pandemic has cemented the fact that broadband is an essential utility. It is not a luxury for those who can afford it. Without broadband we struggle to teach our children, order food and medicines, work or search for a job.

“While the government has provided free laptops and mobile data to help children study at home, these are ultimately just a sticking plaster. To tackle the digital divide, it must take urgent action to ensure everyone can afford their broadband, no matter which provider they are with.”