NEWS
Today, the UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has seen fit to increase the amount of automatic compensation via cash or bill credits for loss of connectivity and delivery delays.
The system is voluntary for home broadband ISPs, first launched on 1st April 2019, designed to compensate consumers for delayed repairs following connectivity failures. Originally, if a connectivity outage was not fixed in 2 working days the compensation was set at £8.40 per day over this, with missed appointments also potentially awarding £26.24 to the consumer. Delay to starting new services also incurred a charge of £5.25 per day.
All these rates are now set to increase in line with inflation from the 1st of April annually, based on the Consumer Price Index from 31st Oct the previous year, which was around 11%. This means ISPs signed up to this system will now pay £9.33 per day for delayed repairs, £29.15 for missed appointments, and £5.83 per day if delaying the start of a new service.
Most Major ISPs do support the system with big names such as BT, EE, Plusnet, Hyperoptic, Sky Broadband (plus NOW Broadband), Virgin Media, TalkTalk, Utility Warehouse, Vodafone (Openreach’s network only), and Zen Internet already signed up.
What with many providers feeling the squeeze of the general increase in bills, this could well put off more ISPs from joining this still voluntary scheme. Smaller providers will be even more unlikely to sign up given the costs and technical hurdles required to support the scheme. However, customers of providers might not need to worry, as some ISPs outside the scheme do provide their own approaches to compensation.
Want to learn more about UK connectivity and engage with the full ecosystem? Connected North will be kicking off this April 17-18 and is poised to have key regional stakeholders discuss policy, regulations, competition, technology, and more. Click here to book your place today.