Industry overview
What is shaping internet services
Broadband providers, platforms and digital businesses depend on adoption, experience and trust. Usage patterns differ widely by city tier, age and language.
- New users are coming online in smaller towns and local languages
- Experience and reliability drive loyalty
- Trust and safety concerns shape usage
Client background
A home broadband provider, working in India: 15 cities. Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.
- Organisation
- A home broadband provider
- Sector
- Internet services
- Team engaged
- Market Research
- Services
- Quantitative research, Offline data collection (CATI), Data analytics & dashboards
Client challenge
The provider had grown quickly but faced rising cancellations, especially in newer cities. Management assumed speed was the main issue and planned costly upgrades, but some executives questioned whether that was right.
Research objectives
- Answer the core question: what home broadband customers really care about.
- Understand the views, needs and behaviour of subscribers.
- Produce results that can be compared across groups and locations.
- Give the client evidence it can act on within 7 weeks.
Target audience
The work focused on 4,000 subscribers.
- subscribers4,000
Audiences we typically reach in internet services
Broadband and app usersNew internet usersSmall businesses onlineContent creatorsParents and educators
Geographic coverage
Coverage: India: 15 cities. Market: India.
- India
Research methodology
A structured quantitative design, so results could be compared across groups, locations and time.
- 1Brief
- 2Customer survey
- 3Driver analysis
- 4Dashboard
- 5Insight
We surveyed subscribers about speed, reliability, installation, billing and support, and used driver analysis to find the strongest influences on satisfaction and intent to stay. Calls were made in Hindi, English and regional languages to subscribers across cities and plan types, and open comments were coded to explain the scores in customers’ own words.
Quantitative researchOffline data collection (CATI)Data analytics & dashboards
Sampling strategy
- subscribers
- 4,000
- Telephone contacts were dialled from verified lists, with quotas tracked live by the field team.
Data collection
- Telephone interviews were run from our CATI centre, with calls monitored for quality.
Data quality & validation
- Live call monitoring and recording review
- Call-back verification
- Logic and range checks on the final data
- Work carried out under our ISO 20252 quality procedures
Data analysis
- Cross-tabulation by key groups and locations
- Significance testing on the differences that mattered
- Driver analysis to find what most influences the outcome
- Interactive dashboard for ongoing tracking
Key findings
- Fault resolution time mattered more than headline speeds.
Reliability and support kept customers more than speed upgrades.
Recommendations
- Build on the core insight: reliability and support kept customers more than speed upgrades.
- Focus effort where the evidence was strongest: fault resolution time mattered more than headline speeds.
- Re-measure after the changes to confirm the effect.
Business impact
- The provider introduced same-day fault commitments in key cities.
- Cancellations fell in cities where the new fault commitments were introduced, and the provider redirected part of its upgrade budget to field support teams.
What changed in the business as a result of the work. Impact is described qualitatively.
Deliverables & next steps
- Insight report and management presentation
- Cleaned data file and data tables
- Interactive dashboard
- Repeat the measure after changes are in place to track progress.
- A natural follow-on question: what makes users feel safe online?
Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.