Virgin Media and Tesco Mobile Scoop Top Gongs at The Switcher.ie Awards

The fifth annual Switcher.ie Awards took place last night at The Marker Hotel where Virgin Media took home the overall Best Broadband Provider award, while Tesco Mobile scooped the award for Best Mobile Phone Operator.

Each year, the Switcher.ie Awards honours the leading lights of Ireland’s broadband industry. This year, in recognition of changing trends, and the increasing role mobile technologies and services play in consumers’ lives, seven mobile categories were also added.

The awards are the only event of their kind in Ireland, with independent consumer research, and over 90,000 customer ratings and speed tests determining winners across the vast majority of categories. An independent judging panel, including myself, decided the results in the remainder.

Virgin Media swept the board, taking home six broadband awards – Best Customer Rated Home Broadband, Best Customer Service, Best Value Home Broadband, Fastest Home Broadband, Best Broadband, TV & Home Phone and the coveted overall Best Broadband Provider award.

Meanwhile, Sky’s strong TV offering shone through, with wins in the Best TV Content and Best TV Provider categories, along with awards for Best Broadband & TV Equipment and Best Customer Benefits. Vodafone won three awards, including the gong for Best Rural Broadband Rollout, while eir scooped two, including the award for Best Quad Play Deal.

In the mobile categories, Tesco Mobile won three accolades – on top of the overall Best Mobile Phone Operator award, customers also voted them best for Customer Service and named them Best High-Street Mobile Retailer. Vodafone also scooped three mobile awards, including Fastest Mobile Provider, while Three took home the Best Value Mobile Network award. You can see a full list of the winners below.

Eoin Clarke, Managing Director of Switcher.ie, said: “These awards are about recognising the great things broadband, TV and mobile providers do, while also helping consumers to choose the company and service that’s right for them.

“Given the competition across the telecoms market these days, access to independent and impartial consumer feedback is more important than ever. Coupled with our free broadband and TV comparison tool and SIM-only mobile comparison, these Awards help to provide consumers with this independent feedback, by giving telecoms customers a real say in determining the winners.

“All of our award winners deserve a huge congratulations, with special mentions of course to Virgin Media and Tesco Mobile who were named Best Overall Providers on the night.”