28% of UK Consumers Fear an Internet Outage Could Ruin Christmas

A new Censuswide survey of 2,010 consumers, which was conducted on behalf of UK ISP Zen Internet, has found that 60% of Brits using the internet on Christmas Day believe that their broadband going down would impact celebrations and 28% think it could ruin the day.

The outcome is not surprising, particularly given the huge popularity of internet video streaming services (e.g. Netflix, YouTube, Spotify) and the rise in modern smart devices (e.g. Amazon Echo, Google Home, WiFi connected light bulbs, heating controls). Apparently the popularity of these has led to 20% of consumers planning to give or receive a smart device for Christmas, with 33% planning to buy at least one device this year alone.

However, despite almost a quarter (22%) aiming not to use the internet at all this Christmas, Brits using the internet on Christmas Day admitted that in the event of a net outage they would miss social media sites and streaming music and film at Christmas. Mind you this does partly assume that both the fixed line and mobile data connection(s) would become unavailable at the same time (unlikely for most people).

What would you miss most during an Xmas net outage?
Social media (37%)
Streaming TV or music (24%)
Video calling (17%)
Gaming (12%)
Online shopping (11%)

“Christmas should be the most peaceful time of the year, but our research shows that seemingly small issues with home broadband could cause family fallouts,” said Richard Tang, Chairman and Founder of Zen. “With so many new devices set to be connected to the web this festive season, testing the internet connection is now as vital in preparing for the big day as checking whether batteries are included and getting the dinner timings right.”

Otherwise Zen recommends ensuring that you can get good WiFi coverage around the house, have a strong network password set, change the default passwords on any new devices you connection and the obvious one of making sure to take time out from online activities to focus on family and friends.