Consumer survey into telecom market 2021: information about prices and conditions is easier to understand

The annual consumer survey into the telecom market, which the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) commissions each year, has revealed that consumers find information about mobile plans easier to understand than they did in previous years. Six in ten respondents say that they understand the information about prices and conditions. However, a large group (45%) of respondents still find it difficult to compare prices of different providers properly. Compared with previous years, this percentage is going down though. For some time now, ACM has urged telecom operators to make their prices and conditions for mobile plans clearer to consumers. Another notable finding is that the group of consumers that are completely surprised by higher-than-expected bills has halved compared with last year (2020: 6% compared with 2021: 3%).

The consumer survey also reveals that consumers stay with their multiplay-plan providers, because, they say, switching providers is a hassle and time-consuming, and because they are afraid of the paperwork involved. They also find it too complicated. Compared with last year, more consumers said they were looking into switching providers, because they wanted higher download speeds (2021: 19% compared with 2020: 13%). The top three reasons for switching providers after consumers have looked into it are: price (33%), bundle (29%), and download speed (23%).

See also

12-7-2021 Consumer survey into telecom market 2021 (in Dutch)