In the 1960s telecommunications networks were crap; albeit the preserve of insanely smart engineers giving birth to the Internet (read up on ARPANET).

By the early 80s telecommunications and packet switching networks were brilliant. They worked. The operators were respected. The industry was booming.

Now, once mighty Telcos appear to be little more than financial playthings peddled by investment funds and billionaires intent upon asset stripping and dressing up the remaining mutton as prime Easter lamb.

Consequently, Telcos have been driven to over promising and under-delivering in the consumer space in pursuit of market share. “Up to…” “Superfast… Ultrafast… Ultrafast Plus…” “Totally unlimited (subject to fair use) …” “Fastest Broadband Ever…” “Ultra, Ultra, Ultra…”

Enticing hyperbole often never deliverable in too many areas.

The concept of customer service has gone to the wall. And why not? In pursuit of the holy grail of optimum consumer market share, Telcos simply no longer charge enough to justify an appropriate investment in customer care.

Telcos now top the list of delivering Worst Service in the company of airlines, banks, social media providers, Government agencies, etc. Note the common denominator that these so-called customer facing organisations are increasingly hiding behind websites that do all that is possible to keep you away from talking to a human being.

Telcos must wake up and smell the coffee. How we use the internet has changed in the ensuing years since the 80’s. No more so in the last 2 years. The internet has become a vital utility for many, enabling people to stay connected over the long months of isolation, giving business a vital lifeline when forced to close their doors to the public. These changes mean that Telcos need to look at how they treat customers and customers need to evaluate what is important to them.

If the internet is crucial to a business, price and bandwidth should not be the only factors evaluated. Mean time to fix and the ability to talk to someone who can help when needed should also be factors in the decision to sign up.

Internet outages are inevitable. How a Telco deals with these outages will set them apart from their competition.

Examine the stress factors associated with Internet problems.

Sub optimal performance can be annoying – especially if it is a reoccurring issue – but not stressful.