Press & PR

The BBC's iPlayer, which allows users to download live streaming video has brought high-end internet services to the masses, it has been argued.

Product director of Broadband Choices Michael Phillips has said before such services were introduced, fewer people regularly downloaded TV programs and videos.

Mr Phillips said that file-sharing programs had only limited popularity and that most people just used the internet for browsing purposes for a few hours a day.

Now, however, the iPlayer and Channel 4's 4oD have made downloading video over the internet a mass market.

"I think that's why consumers are expecting more of their ISPs and potentially ISPs weren't expecting customers to start doing these high-intensity web surfing activities," he concludes.

Regarding customer service satisfaction, a recent uSwitch poll found that one in two people are unhappy with their broadband provider, while over eight million are unsure that their supplier has them on the best deal.

Vonage provides a cost-effective broadband phone service that allows people to make calls over the internet securely, with free UK calls included in the V-Plan 1 package.