Reliability and compensation report: the impact of poor business fibre connectivity
April 24, 2024
|
4
min read
Highlights
The 2024 Reliability and Compensation report puts a value on just how much internet outages cost businesses. Last year, economic productivity in London lost £5.7 billion because of connectivity outages. ISPs should compete on the quality of their networks, to drive performance improvements and better serve the business community.
In today's digital world, unreliable business internet connections are costing businesses and damaging the UK economy.
Our recent Reliability and Compensation Report, authored by Assembly Research, using data from the ONS and a survey conducted by YouGov, revealed that: 51% of UK fixed business connectivity customers experienced an outage in the past year, but 61% of those affected never received compensation.
Your business internet service provider (ISP) should make promises (in the form of a robust and transparent Service Level Agreement (SLA)) about keeping your business connected.
If they won’t make contractual promises, that says a lot about their confidence in their network. Automatic compensation would hold them to account.
The reality of internet outages
Digital connectivity is a cornerstone of business operations, and the economic repercussions of poor connectivity are very real.
19% of businesses with a business internet contract experienced more than three outages in the past year.
Overall, the UK economy lost £17.6 billion due to fixed business connectivity outages in the past year, with London businesses alone losing £5.7 billion.
Even brief outages that might have been tolerated ten years ago significantly impact productivity today. We’re more reliant on connectivity than ever before. And that’s only going to increase.
Tim Creswick, Founder and CEO of Vorboss, says:
“ISPs should all be incentivised to compete on quality – that would force an uplift in network performance, and in turn drive a much-needed economic boost.”
The problem with getting money back
Even though connectivity outages are common, not many businesses receive compensation.
Only 35% of UK fixed business connectivity customers who experienced an outage in the last twelve months received compensation.
Based on a sample of current tariffs, a meagre average of only £7.53 in direct financial compensation would have been available for the average outage time.
Businesses depend on the internet for everything from internal functions, like cloud-based services, to external interactions with suppliers and customers, so it’s critical they can trust their internet to work.
Especially as our demands on internet infrastructure increase.
The power of the SLA
Many businesses are not aware of the promises—if any —that their internet provider has made, or what they should receive if there’s a problem.
23% of UK fixed business connectivity customers were unsure whether their contracts included SLAs, and 21% didn’t know if their contract specified compensation arrangements if certain service quality levels weren’t met.
This makes it hard for them to ask for money back when things go wrong and suggests that there's a significant change is needed in how internet providers talk to their business customers.
When asked why they hadn’t asked for compensation, 44% of UK fixed business connectivity customers believed the claim wasn't worth the time and effort.
34% didn't bother to ask because they didn’t expect to receive any compensation.
Customers should be the priority, and getting automatic compensation when things go wrong is one way to make sure they are treated fairly.
While being compensated for internet outages doesn't fully make up for lost productivity, clear promises and automatic money back when things go wrong are essential to ensure that networks are competing on quality. And they’re essential to enabling businesses to make an informed choice about the provider that’s best for them.
For detailed statistics and insights that can guide your decision-making, read the complete Reliability and Compensation Report.
Tell us about yourself so we can serve you best.
Got a question?
More articles
London, 5 November 2025
Vorboss, London’s leading business fibre network, today announces the launch of a cutting-edge connectivity product built to enable essential public services across the capital.
The new solution offers high-speed, reliable connectivity that’s both affordable and quick to deploy, helping London stay connected and future-proof.
Built on the 100Gbps-capable Vorboss network, the new solution delivers ultra-reliable, high-capacity connectivity that underpins the growing demands of smart city technology and public infrastructure. With a range of options to connect these end-points, Vorboss is collaborating with Vitrifi, which has deployed key components of its networking platform, on PON-based solutions as part of the launch. Working with Vitrifi allows rapid and efficient provisioning and seamless scalability.
The product enables councils, transport authorities, and service integrators to easily connect and manage thousands of devices, from real-time traffic cameras, CCTV, small cells, and environmental sensors to IoT-connected street furniture, all with enterprise-grade resilience and low latency.
“We have been listening to local government organisations over the last year as they explain their difficulty in finding cost-effective, reliable solutions to connecting machines across their boroughs. Through a lot of consultation and innovation we have been able to create a fibre-based solution that is reliable and can be installed quickly.”
Jason O'Malley, CCO, Vorboss, notes:
“With this launch, we’re extending the power of the Vorboss network to enable local authorities and service providers to make cities safer, and more efficient.”
Vorboss’s fibre network, which spans over 700km, is engineered for scalability and security. Vorboss engineers are all based in Central London and are managed by a Liverpool Street based planning and NOC team. This provides an unparalleled level of proactive and reactive support to London's councils.
Rhod Morgan, Vorboss COO, adds:
"The density and quality of our network in central London puts us in a unique position to provide these innovative solutions. Every month 100s of new businesses are being connected to the Vorboss network and this is natural progression of the business as we further accelerate this growth."
About Vorboss
Vorboss is London’s most advanced business fibre network, designed to meet the connectivity needs of modern enterprises and critical public infrastructure. As a member of the Fern Trading Group (part of Octopus Investments), Vorboss is focused on empowering organisations with direct, high-capacity fibre that supports innovation and growth.
About Vitrifi
Vitrifi is building a class-leading autonomic network platform, focussed on reducing the costs to serve customer and manage capacity, built upon a cloud-native, hyper-scaling architecture. The Vitrifi platform enables the rapid and efficient provisioning of fibre optic network services and scales seamlessly to meet the demands of its customers.
.png)
A fast-growing footprint and a move to a new London HQ, InPost is going through exciting changes.
If you’ve ever picked up a parcel from a locker at your local supermarket or petrol station, chances are you’ve used InPost. Founded in Poland and now operating across nine countries, they’re a leader in logistics solutions for the e-commerce industry in Europe.
Preparing for the move
The team knew that moving offices and switching internet providers can bring unexpected hurdles, so finding a partner who could provide dependable service and simplify the installation process was essential.
.jpg)
.jpg)
