The survey examined the views of 20,500 consumers across 14 countries including Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and the US.

Thirty-seven percent of households have recently switched broadband provider or plan to do so in the next 12 months. Cost savings are the top rationale cited by recent or future switchers (41%), but other factors such as poor network quality, poor customer experience and limited-service portfolios account for more than half of reasons given for switching.

This year's survey reveals a positive shift in network quality experiences, with a year-on-year increase in households saying they never experience problems (16%) compared to 14% last year. Nevertheless, unreliable connections remain a challenge for certain groups - 29% of 18- to 24-year-olds and 30% of households with three or more occupants still experience reliability problems.

Adrian Baschnonga, EY Global Telecommunications Lead Analyst, says: "Network outrages are caused by a range of factors, from power outages to extreme weather events. Connectivity providers must recognize how network quality impacts every aspect of service delivery and improves their customer promises around broadband reliability."

The survey shows that 27% of respondents are interested in satellite home broadband, while 34% are interested in backup connectivity via satellite as a mobile package. For users aged under 35 years, generative AI tools (10%) rank ahead of price comparison websites (9%) when they're planning to purchase a smart home device.