For 63% of Spaniards, a stable internet connection is as important as having water or electricity

Spaniards see the internet connection as a basic service on the same level as water or electricity, and they increasingly demand stable, low-latency connections, since the opposite generates frustration that can haunt them throughout the day.

With the proliferation of cloud-based services, such as streaming or video calls, and the emergence of applications that require real-time use, such as virtual reality and artificial intelligence, stability and latency take on an increasingly relevant role in the digital experience.

Therefore, interruptions such as screens that freeze at a key moment generate frustration and helplessness in 36.1 percent of Spaniards, and even cause anxiety in 13.6 percent. The rest assume it with resignation (26.2%) or indifference (24.1%), which for DE-CIX means that users are already “anesthetized” in the face of connection cuts.

These emotions don’t last long; In general, Spaniards move on and only 7.3 percent recognize that their bad mood follows them the rest of the day. Even so, the worst times to experience connectivity problems are limited to online transactions (65.1%), work or professional activity (54.3%) and video calls (47.8%).

These data are collected in the ‘Latency Challenge’ study, carried out by netquest for DE-CIX, in which 1,504 Spanish Internet users, aged 18 and over, were surveyed, in which 63.4 percent of Spaniards believe that an uninterrupted internet is as important or almost as important as having water or electricity.

It also indicates that the patience with which websites or online services are loaded has changed in recent years. Currently, Spaniards are able to wait between one and four seconds (36%) or between five and ten seconds (32.6%) before letting frustration take over.

Compared to five years ago, 29.2 percent of those surveyed acknowledge that they are much less patient, although the majority (56.9%) maintain that they have the same patience. Currently, 13.6 percent are frustrated if a website, app or video takes less than a second to respond.

And when these failures generate small connection microcuts, the way that 35.1 percent of Spaniards try to resolve them is to turn the router off and on again. 22.1 percent say that they wait patiently for it to be restored and 18 percent even say that they go on to do something else. Only 11.1 percent let frustration take over.

Poor internet is, for 88 percent of those surveyed, a reason to change provider. Furthermore, 20.4 percent would be willing to pay more for a rate that guarantees connectivity with zero delays and even 11.8 percent would change providers for a 100% stable connection even if it costs more.

But it happens that you do not always know what service you have contracted and a higher speed (Gbps) is related to a better experience (22.1%). However, latency plays an essential role in connection performance and is due to inefficient routing, something that 82.2 percent of Spaniards admit they did not know.

In general, satisfaction with the quality of the connection reaches an average of 7.48 out of 10, and regarding the Spanish infrastructure, 72.2 consider it to be of quality.