The UK telecommunications watchdog should monitor other aspect of ISPs service apart from delivery of connection speeds, it has been claimed.

Epitoro has called on Ofcom to follow the example of its New Zealand equivalent The Commerce Commission and scrutinise the levels of downtime and the reliability of broadband connections, Isp review reports.

By focussing unduly on speed of connections, they are not effectively monitoring the level of service available to UK broadband users, managing director of Epitiro Gavin Johns claims.

He said: "Although consumers and uninformed commentators often consider download speed to be the most important attribute of broadband, it’s just one indicator of performance, as Internet experts know.

"There are a variety of performance indicators that deliver for different types of users. Consumers want a fast Internet service, but it must also be reliable and resilient. Connection reliability and low levels of downtime are very important.

"There’s no point having a fast connection if it is not available when you want to use it."