WightFibre Named First UK ISP to Win Key Customer Service Award
Internet provider WightFibre, which is currently rolling out a new gigabit speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network across the Isle of Wight (South Coast of Hampshire), appears to have become the first broadband ISP in the UK to secure the Institute of Customer Service‘s (ICS) ServiceMark with Distinction Accreditation.
The accolade, which is said to reflect an independent and national benchmark of an organisation’s achievement in customer service and its commitment to upholding those standards, is the highest level of accreditation awarded by the ICS and is currently held by just 16 organisations in the United Kingdom.
The award followed a survey of 500 WightFibre customers, as well as interviews with most of its staff, which enabled the ICS to score the company’s approach to customer service and to compare this with the UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI). The ISP achieved a very high score of 89% overall, which compares to an average of 74% for telecom companies and 75% for all companies in the UK index.
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The latest biannual UKCSI report also came out this week, although it’s worth noting that the only telecoms organisations to make the “national” top 50 table (WightFibre isn’t included in this as they’re limited to the Isle of Wight) were mobile operators – Tesco Mobile, Sky Mobile and giffgaff (here).
John Irvine, CEO of WightFibre, said:
“I am extremely proud of the team at WightFibre for achieving the ServiceMark with Distinction and making us the first broadband company in the UK to be awarded this accolade. It really does affirm our company ethos of “Because we care”. To achieve this during such challenging times, when our teams are largely working from home, is even more impressive.
It shows that, regardless of the circumstances, we are continuing to deliver a great experience to our customers and that we really do care. Being ServiceMark accredited with Distinction assures our customers that they’ll receive not only some of the best broadband to be found anywhere in the world but also the best possible service.”
Just as a quick reminder. Toward the end of last year we reported that WightFibre’s FTTP rollout had already covered over 30,000 premises and their goal is to reach around 70,000 by the end of 2025, which is close to universal coverage of the island. But we note that Openreach also now seem to be busy conducting a rival build in some of the same areas.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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In the Institute of Customer Service’s bi-annual Customer Service Index, only companies which operate nationally get to feature in their top 50 list, so even with their high scores WightFibre don’t make the list.
It is interesting to note that telecoms companies have been slowly trending upwards in the
last few years reflecting, I think, an investment in customer service and a reduction in off-shoring by the likes of BT. But Telecoms still has a long way to go to ranking 10th / 13 in average scores per industry sector (above Transport, Utilities and Public Services).