The number of complaints about pay TV, landline, mobile and broadband services to Ofcom rose in the final part of 2025, according to stats published by the regulator this week. EE’s TV service received more complaints than other services, while mid-contract price rises caused consumer anger.
- TalkTalk’s scaled-back TV service received the least complaints
- Sky can no longer boast of being least complained about provider
- O2 received most complaints about mobile, TalkTalk and Vodafone most complained about broadband service providers.
Internet-based TV platform EE TV continued to generate the most complaints to Ofcom compared to other pay TV services.
The latest quarterly figures, which cover the end of 2025, showed EE’s pay TV service generated more than double the number of complaints to Ofcom than TalkTalk TV when measured per 100,000 users. Billing, prices and charges and handling of complaints were the key drivers behind the complaints.
Sky, which had for years been the least complained about pay TV provider now sits alongside Virgin Media in receiving what Ofcom deems the ‘industry average’ level of complaints regarding pay TV.
TalkTalk’s TV service originally started off as a hybrid service from YouView, combining traditional pay TV with free-to-air channels. In recent years, it has focused on providing boxes to subscribers that give them access to an array of streaming apps alongside free-to-air channels. Arguably, this makes its proposition quite different to its rivals, which continue to offer packages of traditional linear pay TV channels. As a result of this model, TalkTalk TV is less likely to see the same level of complaints regarding billing.
Anger over price rises
During the period of time covered by Ofcom’s stats, O2 revealed it was going to implement a change to mid-contract price rises. The change meant that customers would face larger than expected bill increases. That resulted in the mobile company going straight to the bottom of Ofcom’s table. It received more than double the industry average of complaints to Ofcom (7 per 100,000 subscribers versus the average of 3 per 100,000 subscribers). Customers complained to Ofcom, even though it has stated it won’t deal with individual complaints. Despite calls to review regulations on price rises, Ofcom has made no changes.
Controversially, since Ofcom outlawed price rises based on future inflation rates in favour of clear ‘pounds and pence’ rises, major suppliers have responded with even greater price rises. Many low-cost or mid-range packages have increased by more than rate of inflation, while those on top-tier premium packages have seen the lowest increases in percentage terms.
Vodafone was the worst-performing home broadband providers, generating more than twice the number of complaints to Ofcom than Virgin Media, the best performing major broadband supplier at the end of 2025. TalkTalk was second worst broadband supplier. Complaints regarding fault and service provisioning dominated Ofcom’s figures.
Virgin Media, once one of the worst in terms of broadband complaints received lower than average complaints.
Sky gathers complaints
Meanwhile, a closer look at Ofcom’s stats reveals Sky has lost its long-standing position as least-complained about telecoms provider. Just two years ago, it ran an advertising campaign boasting about its status.
Sky is now the second-most complained about pay monthly mobile provider, directly behind O2. Complaints about its broadband service now lie at industry average levels.
Overall, the number of complaints to Ofcom were up for the first time since 2023, when measured on a quarterly basis. That’s also despite the fact that Ofcom doesn’t deal with most complaints – these are broadly handled by the ombudsman.
Admitting that it doesn’t actually directly help individuals, it says “while we cannot deal with individual customer complaints, by publishing these figures we can help customers to identify the right provider for their needs.”
Cristina Luna-Esteban, Ofcom’s Director of Consumers and Retail Markets, added:
“It is disappointing to see an increase in customers complaints during this quarter, especially following a sustained period of decreases in the complaints we received about telecoms companies. However, a main driver of these complaints appears to be an unexpected mid-contract price rise announcements for some mobile customers in the autumn of 2025. We will continue to monitor the market including future complaints figures for any indication of ongoing customer dissatisfaction.”
By: Marc Thornham