Users’ satisfaction with the sectors regulated by Arcep is one of the guiding forces behind the actions taken by the Authority. Arcep has been assessing these satisfaction levels for several years, along with the main sources of user dissatisfaction and the actions being taken as a result by presenting:
- The findings of its annual observatory of customer satisfaction with internet service providers and mobile operators;
- And the main takeaways from the reports received via the “J’alerte l’Arcep” site over the course of 2023.
Customer satisfaction observatory (survey): once again this year, network quality of service – and fixed network QoS in particular – remains the number one issue for users.
The 2024 edition of the “Customer satisfaction observatory” is based on a survey conducted by IFOP in late 2023. Fixed and/or mobile network subscribers’ overall satisfaction is is stable compared to last year. Users’ satisfaction with their mobile operator (scoring 7.8/10 on average) remains higher overall than their satisfaction with their internet service providers (ISP): with an average score of 7.6/10.
OVERALL SATISFACTION – MOBILE OPERATOR/ISP COMBINED
Base: Operator’s/ISP’s mobile or internet customers
Once again this year, the main issues encountered involved quality of service, and fixed network QoS in particular. Fifty five percent of users (49% when excluding “spam/unwanted telemarketing calls” which overall cannot be attributed to operators) reported encountering a problem with their ISP.
The Observatory also highlightred a steady decrease in the rate at which users answer calls from unknown numbers. Sixty five percent of users say they never or rarely answer calls when they do not recognise the number, compared to 57% in 2021.
Answer calls from unknown numbers
Legend : Never / Rarely / Sometimes / Always
“J’alerte l’Arcep”: ongoing increase in the number of reports received. Quality of service, especially on fixed networks, is still the main source of users’ dissatisfaction.
Since its launch in 2017, the “J’alerte l’Arcep” platform has enabled users to submit close to 250,000 reports. In 2023, Arcep received more than 53,000 reports, including some 45,000 directly on the platform – the remaining alerts being received through other channels (email, the post, phone calls). This marks a sizeable increase (+18% YoY) over 2022 during which 44,600 reports were received from users.
The vast majority of the reports received concern the telecoms sector. Within this sector, it is fixed internet services that were the subject of most reports (43,700 reports received in 2023, or close to 82% of the total number of reports). Among them, by far the most prevalent source of dissatisfaction was fibre network rollouts. Mobile networks received a comparatively smaller number of complaints (7,650 alerts in 2023) but have increased sharply (+23% YoY), due to issues such as spam and scam calls which doubled compared to 2022.
“J’alerte l’Arcep”: when publishing its annual scorecard, Arcep delivered a reminder of the benefits of its reporting platform and data-driven regulation tool
Since its launch in 2017, the “J’alerte l’Arcep” reporting platform has given individuals, businesses and local authorities the ability to report any malfunctions encountered in their relationship with their fixed or mobile operator, internet service provider, and postal service or press distribution providers. It provides users with the opportunity to have their own experience inform market regulation, through citizen action, and give operators an incentive to improve their services and develop their networks. At the end of the reporting process, users are also offered tip sheets tailored to their situation. The received reports give Arcep the ability to track the problems being encountered by users in real time, to identify recurrent malfunctions, and detect spikes in user alerts. This serves the Authority’s ultimate aim of taking more targeted, and thereby more effective, regulatory action with operators.
The main sources of dissatisfaction expressed on “J’alerte l’Arcep” were confirmed by the customer satisfaction observatory that was produced based on a survey conducted by the IFOP institute.