Broadband provider O2 has conducted a survey which shows that its customers are more concerned with getting high speed, consistent broadband and top-notch customer service than with potential job losses and even NHS waiting times.

Since the survey is conducted by O2 and presumably targeted fairly broadband-aware citizens, this result may seem less surprising. However, the 41 per cent of respondents that said they were daily impacted by a sluggish broadband connection was ahead of the other frequent frustrations by a margin that is impossible to ignore.

Only 14 per cent of people said that extended waiting periods before treatment by the NHS were a daily irritant, which is in stark contrast to the 36 per cent of people who said that unhelpful or rude customer service representatives would adversely affect them in daily life.

O2 conducted the survey of over 2000 people at the beginning of the month and it is publishing the findings in order to promote a new advertising campaign that identifies familiar obstacles and pitfalls that broadband users may encounter with their internet service providers (ISPs); pitfalls which O2 claims to avoid.

O2’s Felix Geyr said that the arrival of the new coalition government and the results of the survey show that ISPs will need to alter their current policies and address current inadequacies in order to win the support and respect of the public.

73 per cent of the respondents said that a quick fix for these issues in the first few months of the new government would be desirable. However, most experts agree that there are more pressing issues facing the coalition than getting cheap cable broadband out into every home and forcing ISPs to shape up their customer service departments.

O2 is going to start offering home phone bundle deals to all current and new customers of its ADSL broadband packages in an attempt to capture a larger proportion of the home broadband market. This could look attractive since Tiscali broadband prices are set to rise now that TalkTalk has taken over the brand.

Beginning in March, O2 home broadband customers will be able to get a deal that adds the cost of a comprehensive home phone package to their monthly broadband bill.

O2 will be offering a selection of two different home phone tariffs, although there is nothing that you will not have seen before from other broadband providers. The basic package will offer unlimited calls to landline numbers in the UK during off-peak hours during the evening and weekend.

For a more comprehensive calling tariff, O2 broadband customers should choose the more expensive Anytime home phone package, which gives unlimited calls for UK landlines and 20 international destinations and to mobile numbers located in North America.

In a similar approach to the bolt-ons that it offers its broadband customers, O2 will be looking to offer additions to the home phone bundles, including the ability to divert, bar and block incoming calls. These low-cost services are designed to allow users to modify their package to suit their needs.

A spokesperson for O2 said that the company was creating the home phone packages for its broadband customers in order to build on its current brand beyond mobile and broadband into a complete array of communications services. This move is seen as the most important since O2 launched its home broadband service three years ago.

Simple Broadband’s Communication manager Simon Gerrard added that “with Tiscali being absorbed by TalkTalk and with Tiscali broadband prices increased for some of its former customers, the alternative offered by O2 could be an attractive money saving option.”