New connections –
new competition, new challenges, new opportunities

The new connections industry is changing. Regulatory pressures are demanding a greater focus on the customer; the independent sector is increasing its presence as a connections provider and asset manager and traditional utilities are responding with more complete multi-utility services, delivered on a national basis. Meanwhile, an increasingly tough economic climate is exerting downward pressure on profitability across the spectrum.

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In this dynamic environment, the industry is faced with perennial service challenges. Domestic connections, which form the majority of activity, generate ongoing complaints for industry watchdogs and utility regulators. In the commercial sector, housing developers claim that utility connections are the worst operational problem that they face on site.

Typically, domestic customers raise concerns relating to cost and service levels. These problems are shared by commercial customers, who have articulated their issues in a number of industry investigations. By illustration, the third annual survey of members of the National Federation of Builders (NFB), published in October 2008, highlights that organisations are still failing to get the service basics right. As the chart shows, there are major shortcomings in relation to communication, responsiveness and delivery.

What is wrong with the service?

Source: National Federation of Builders (NFB), October 2008

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