O2 RETAINS CUSTOMER SERVICE AWARD TITLE and AAISP WINS NICHE PROVIDER AWARD Submitted By: Ascent PR Wednesday, 6 January 2010

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O2 RETAINS CUSTOMER SERVICE AWARD TITLE AND AAISP WINS NICHE PROVIDER AWARD Submitted by: Ascent PR Wednesday, 6 January 2010

Following a year long survey of users, thinkbroadband.com (http://www.thinkbroadband.com) today announces the winners of its 2009 Broadband Provider Customer Service Awards. The survey also took into consideration the reliability of services across both the mainstream markets and smaller niche operators. The results are based on over 250,000 user ratings, and show that O2 retains the top position in the mainstream ISP category for the second year running, with AAISP entering the niche providers list at number one. The survey has also found that broadband users are generally happier with the level of customer service and find that it is more reliable in 2009 than in previous years. Across the board, customers have an overall satisfaction rating of 50 per cent, four percentage points up on the previous year, and reliability is two points up at 56 per cent. thinkbroadband Broadband Provider Customer Service Awards Winners (based on over 250,000 user ratings from 01/01/2009 to 14/12/2009) Category: Large ISPs: •Gold – O2 Broadband (http://www.broadband.o2.co.uk) •Silver – BE Unlimited (http://www.bethere.co.uk) •Bronze – PlusNet (http://www.plus.net) Category: Niche ISPs: •Gold – AAISP (http://www.aaisp.net.uk/) •Silver – Zen Internet (http://www.zen.co.uk/) •Bronze – IDNet (http://www.idnet.net/) O2 has maintained its top position, based on customer ratings for its fixed-line broadband services. O2 subsidiary BE Unlimited and PlusNet follow in second and third place as in the previous year. “Consumers often compare broadband prices and speeds, but customer service and general reliability of services is often overlooked, and it’s when your broadband goes wrong that you need this help most. The exceptional service being offered by both O2 and BE is no match for many competitors.” explains Sebastien Lahtinen, co-founder of thinkbroadband.com. “Andrews & Arnold (AAISP) has been providing broadband services since the early days, and has now attracted sufficient reviews from users to be eligible for the niche operator group, and entered that category at the top position, setting a new standard by gaining 89 per cent customer satisfaction”, Lahtinen added. Compared to the previous year, Virgin Media has improved significantly from 44 per cent to 48 per cent,

Page 1 but TalkTalk demonstrated the biggest improvement rising from a low 39 per cent to 45 per cent. In comparison, Entanet customer satisfaction has dropped from 77 per cent to 62 per cent. It should also be noted that Zen Internet and NewNet topped the reliability tables with 85 per cent and 83 per cent respectively. IDNet and Zen, the winner and runner up from last year’s niche category remain strong taking the remaining awards within the niche category this year. Felix Geyr, Head of Home and Broadband at Telefonica O2 UK said “We launched O2 Home Broadband with a commitment to offer a top quality service for our customers and coming top of the thinkbroadband customer service award for the second year running is a great endorsement of that. The fact that our other ISP, BE Broadband, has come a close second again shows we are committed to our customers across both our businesses. We’re very proud that our customers are pleased with our broadband customer service and we will continue to focus on this in 2010.” Adrian Kennard, director of AAISP said “We are very pleased to score so highly in the thinkbroadband survey and will strive to improve our score next year. We have founded our business on transparency between ourselves and our users and it is rewarding to see they have rated us so highly”. A full breakdown of the results is provided below. -ENDS- Notes to editor: About thinkbroadband.com (http://www.thinkbroadband.com) Thinkbroadband.com is the UK's largest independent broadband news and information site which has been operating since 2000. It started in the days when broadband services were bring trialled and its staff thus have some of the most comprehensive experience in this area. Consumers can refer to this impartial website for independent advice and details on the services offered by Broadband Service Providers, enabling them to make an informed decision as to who to use as a supplier as well as troubleshoot problems they may be having. •Comprehensive range of ‘plain english’ consumer guides and advice •Access to bespoke interactive tools including a broadband speed tester •Broadband hardware reviews •Member forum with a community of like-minded people where you can share your thoughts and broadband queries •Variety of ways to rank products according to individual priorities •Detailed product information, availability checker and ISP search •Up-to-date news on broadband industry developments •Independent experts available to assist media with queries or interviews •Focus on providing information and resolving issues rather than encouraging ‘switching providers’

Page 2 Full Results: The results shown are for fixed-line ADSL and Cable Broadband services and do not cover mobile services. Only those service providers with more than 1,000 ratings are included in the ‘niche’ results, and the top 10 ISPs are classified as ‘large’. The survey includes 325,009 ratings in total with 270,312 and 292,302 responding in relation to customer service and reliability respectively. The average customer service rating was 50 per cent whilst the average reliability was 56 per cent across the board (including mobile operators and smaller providers not listed in the above statistics). Results were gathered from 01/01/2009 to 14/12/2009. Large ISPs ------Customer Service------Reliability ------2009----Sample------Score---Sample O2------75%------18,182------68%-----19,515 BE Unlimited----71%------6,651------69%------7,359 PlusNet------66%------9,723------66%-----10,682 Sky Broadband---51%------22,772------59%-----24,651 Virgin Media----48%------55,664------57%-----59,105 TalkTalk------45%------19,753------50%-----21,419 BT Broadband----42%------49,295------52%-----53,231 Tiscali------36%------17,011------48%-----18,756 AOL------36%------13,189------41%-----13,978 Orange------34%------16,820------43%-----18,109 Niche ISPs ------Customer Service------Reliability ------Score----Sample----Score--Score Niche ISPs AAISP------89%------1,018----82%---1,043 Zen------86%------5,024----85%---5,507 IDNet------86%------1,919----80%---2,024 NewNet------82%------1,218----83%---1,380 Eclipse------64%------3,494----65%---3,894 UK Online------64%------1,077----63%---1,198 Entanet------62%------3,540----62%---3,786 Madasafish------62%------1,630----65%---1,755 F2S------54%------2,433----58%---2,978 Nildram------54%------2,594----58%---2,873 Karoo------49%------921----51%-----971 Demon------43%------4,066----54%---4,567

Page 3 Pipex------34%------3,895----53%---4,475 Links: thinkbroadbandhttp://www.thinkbroadband.com O2http://broadband.o2.co.uk BE Unlimitedhttp://www.bethere.co.uk PlusNethttp://www.plus.net IDNethttp://www.idnet.net Zen Internethttp://www.zen.co.uk AAISPhttp://www.aaisp.net For further information contact: Louise Mapp / Danielle Mumford Ascent PR T: 0118 988 0501 E: [email protected] Sebastien Lahtinen Thinkbroadband.com E : [email protected]

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