UK Pay-TV Complaints Fall in Q2 2026, Ofcom Data Shows

Complaints to Ofcom about the UK's main pay-TV, broadband and mobile providers fell in Q2 2026, the regulator's latest quarterly dataset shows, with the entire decline driven by pay-TV while broadband and mobile complaint volumes stayed flat.

The figures, published on 26 October, cover April to June 2026. Ofcom reported a quarter-on-quarter decrease overall. The drop came entirely from pay-TV services. Broadband and mobile complaint levels held steady against the previous quarter.

The causes behind the complaints differ sharply by service. For broadband and mobile, the biggest drivers were faults, service quality and the process of getting services connected. Pay-TV customers complained most often about something else entirely: how providers handled their complaints once raised. A billing problem that spirals into a poor complaint-handling experience, in other words, is the defining pattern of the pay-TV segment.

Which providers drew the most complaints?

Ofcom's provider-level breakdown shows a clear split between the worst and best performers in broadband. The most complained-about broadband providers in Q2 2026 were:

• BT — figures unchanged from the previous quarter
• EE — complaints increased quarter-on-quarter
• TalkTalk — complaints fell
• Vodafone — complaints fell

The least complained-about broadband providers were Plusnet, Sky and Virgin Media.

The mobile picture splits along similar lines. O2 and Sky Mobile generated the most complaints among mobile providers, though for different reasons. O2's complaints centred mainly on faults, service and getting services connected. Sky Mobile's stemmed chiefly from customers' experiences when changing provider — a switching problem rather than a network problem.

At the other end of the table, six operators generated the fewest pay-monthly mobile complaints: EE, Giffgaff, Tesco Mobile, Three, Vodafone and iD Mobile.

In pay-TV, EE and Virgin Media attracted the most complaints. TalkTalk was the least complained-about pay-TV provider — a notable reversal, given TalkTalk sat among the most complained-about broadband providers in the same quarter. The same corporate group can therefore anchor both ends of Ofcom's tables depending on the service line.

What does this change for consumers and operators?

For consumers, the quarterly dataset functions as a switching signal: it identifies which providers are underperforming on service quality and complaint handling before a contract is signed. For operators, the reputational stakes are direct. EE's twin position — rising broadband complaints and a top spot in pay-TV complaints — contrasts with its place among the best performers in pay-monthly mobile, showing that service quality within a single brand can vary sharply across product lines.

The complaint-handling finding in pay-TV also carries a practical lesson for operators. The most frequent grievance was not the original fault but the provider's response to it. That points to process and customer-service investment, rather than network engineering, as the fastest route down Ofcom's tables for pay-TV players.

Ofcom publishes these complaint figures quarterly, giving providers a recurring benchmark against which the next dataset — covering Q3 2026 — will show whether pay-TV's improvement holds and whether broadband and mobile complaint levels, flat this quarter, finally move.