Reliability and compensation report: the impact of poor business fibre connectivity
October 1, 2025
|
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

.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.

Q4 is crunch time, with businesses pushing hard to hit year-end targets. But nothing slows momentum like lagging connectivity. For teams, that often run across hybrid setups using cloud apps, this often means slow file transfers, dropped video calls, and frustrated employees trying to get work done. Every minute of downtime is a minute of lost productivity.
The hidden cost of downtime
Our Reliability and Compensation Report shows that 51% of UK fixed business connectivity customers report experiencing an outage annually, and nearly 1 in 5 have more than three outages.
These disruptions cost the average business around £11,000 in lost output.
Even worse, over 60% of those affected didn’t receive any compensation, either because claiming it wasn’t worth the effort or they didn’t expect to get anything back. So, while cheaper connections might look appealing on paper, they carry hidden operational costs that far outweigh any upfront savings.
How bandwidth directly impacts productivity
As more teams use AI-driven tools to speed-up tasks, poor connectivity becomes counteractive. These tools rely on fast, stable bandwidth to process and return results in real time. When responses lag, workflows slow, and the efficiency gains AI is designed to provide are reduced.
Most businesses only realise their network limits when they need it most, Q4 is the perfect example! Yet many teams have simply learned to put up with it. After years of slow uploads and dropped calls, it’s easy to accept that’s just how things are. But it doesn’t have to be that way. There is a choice, and switching to a more reliable connection is simpler than most realise (to us, anyway).

Fix problems now before they get worse
Addressing performance issues now ensures your team finishes the year strong and starts the next one even stronger. With reliable bandwidth, files transfer instantly, video calls stay clear, and systems remain responsive, so your team can focus on what really counts, getting work done.
Even if everything seems fine today, your team’s bandwidth demands are growing rapidly. Nielsen’s Law shows that high-end users’ network speeds increase by roughly 50% each year, so now’s the time to check whether your current contract can support the upgrades your team will need to avoid future slowdowns.
.jpg)

.jpg)

