Residents in Norwich still having broadband problems

Before I switched to my current Internet provider, I experienced constant service connection problems and inconsistent speeds that I was on the lookout for another provider by the end of the week. Nothing is more annoying or more of a hassle than having a broadband connection that leaves a lot to be desired. Of course, sometimes, services outages are not preventable. Take the case of Virgin Media last month when rats had chewed through their fibre optic cables, damaging them in the process and causing a service interruption. BT Broadband has also had to wade through their fair share of outages, most of which were a result of power outages, with the most recent one being due to a power outage at an exchange in Birmingham.

But what is the most off-putting of all is when the broadband provider is aware that there’s a technical problem, and has done little to resolve it. Either that, or the service provider thinks that the problem is already solved, yet users are still experiencing the same issues with their connections. This is the main complaint of residents in the NR5 postcode area in Norwich, who claimed that they had been experiencing problems with Virgin Media’s broadband services, even two months after the provider announced that all of the issues had already been resolved.

Back in August, a number of residents in the area complained that they had been experiencing problems with their connections since November of last year. At the time, a representative from Virgin Media responded to the claims by saying that they were aware a few users had problems with their accounts, but added that they had already resolved the issues and have restored full access to the complaining parties.

However, users have once again come forward, claiming that the problems they have encountered in the past still persist, with Virgin Media doing little to solve it. Matthew Katos, from Beecheno Road, North Earlham stated: “The issue of the fault has been delayed so many times without an actual fix. The dates for it to be resolved have been pushed back from March to several dates in October, and now it’s next January. Virgin Media has over-subscribed so much in this area, and has so many broadband customers, that it means that from about 7am to late at night, it’s completely unusable.”

The issue has been attributed to unusually high Internet usage at various times of the day in the Norwich area. A spokesperson from Virgin Media stated: “In recognition of the unusually large increase in demand for our services in the NR5 area of Norwich, we are currently undergoing major upgrade work to ensure that customers can get the best from their existing broadband services whilst also enabling the network in the area to deliver our cutting edge 100Mb broadband.”

The representative adds: “This upgrade work will significantly increase available bandwidth ensuring that more of our customers are getting the speeds they are expecting, even at peak times. The full upgrade to services in the NR5 area is due for completion in the new year, however, in the meantime, we are conducting some additional works in the area which will gradually improve affected customers’ service.”

Source – Evening News