Compensation for landline and broadband customers when things go wrong 22 March 2017
Providers would have to compensate for slow repairs, missed deadlines and appointments
Up to £185m in extra compensation would be paid out each year
Proposals part of Ofcom's plan for a step-change in telecoms service quality
Ofcom is today proposing to require providers to pay automatic compensation either a cash payment, or a credit on a bill to customers who suffer from these kinds of poor service.
Customers would be entitled to automatic compensation, without having to go through a potentially lengthy and difficult claims process, whenever:
their landline or broadband is not fixed quickly enough after it has stopped working; or
their new landline or broadband service is not up and running on the day promised; or
an engineer doesn't arrive for an appointment as scheduled.
Ofcom estimates that the plans would mean up to 2.6 million additional landline and broadband customers could receive up to £185m in new compensation payments each year.[1]
Lindsey Fussell, Ofcom's Consumer Group Director, said: When a customer's landline or broadband goes wrong, that is frustrating enough without having to fight tooth and nail to get fair compensation from the provider.
So we're proposing new rules to force providers to pay money back to customers automatically, whenever repairs or installations don't happen on time, or when people wait in for an engineer who doesn't turn up. This would mean customers are properly compensated, while providers will want to work harder to improve their service.
Compensation payments would be set by Ofcom, and designed to reflect the degree of harm suffered by consumers. Here is how Ofcom's automatic compensation scheme would work:
Today's proposals apply to fixed broadband and landline telephone services only. Our analysis shows that mobile companies already make significant compensation payments to customers and we estimate that less than 1% of mobile customers lose service for more than 24 hours.[2] However, we will continue to monitor this area.
The situation todayWhile most consumers are generally satisfied with their telecoms services[3], a significant minority still experience problems.
Our analysis suggests that each year:
there are 5.7 million cases of consumers experiencing a loss of their landline or broadband service;
engineers failed to turn up for around 250,000 appointments; and
around one in eight landline and broadband installations were delayed (12%), affecting more than 1.3 million people.
When they occur, these problems can leave customers unable to keep in touch with friends and family, or use the internet, while one in four people (26%) who experienced a missed appointment have taken a wasted day off work to wait at home for an engineer.
Compensation payments are currently given ad-hoc to only a minority of those suffering problems (in up to 15% of cases), and can fail to adequately reflect the harm caused.
Measures for small businessesAround one-third of small and medium-sized enterprises choose residential landline and broadband services and would also benefit from our compensation proposals.
But we propose that all SMEs should benefit from clearer, more detailed information upfront about the service on offer including whether they are entitled to compensation, and how much, when problems occur.
SMEs can negotiate bespoke terms and there are standard landline and broadband business contracts that provide service guarantees and compensation for a number of different problems, including loss of service. But our research found that around half of SMEs (49%) were uncertain of their rights when providers fell short.
Our proposals for greater transparency should help SMEs to compare the service quality and compensation arrangements for different contracts, and choose the one that best meets the needs of their business.
Next stepsA consultation on today's proposals is open until 5 June 2017 at 5pm, and we will publish our decision statement around the end of the year.
In response to Ofcom's plans, BT, Sky and Virgin Media have jointly put forward a draft proposal to introduce automatic compensation through a draft voluntary industry code of practice. At this stage, we do not consider that this proposal sufficiently meets our concerns, when quality of service falls short.
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
Currently, there are 7.2m instances where landline or broadband customers suffer delayed repairs, missed appointments or delays to new installations. Financial compensation, totalling around £16.3m, is currently paid out in 1.1m of these cases.
Our analysis of the number of consumers that experience loss of mobile service entails making several assumptions and provides a broad sense of the order of magnitude of loss of service. Further detail is set out in Annex 9 to the consultation.
Around nine in ten of residential landline telephone users (88%) and fixed broadband users (87%) were either very' or fairly' satisfied with their service in 2016.[1] Eight in ten SMEs (83%) are satisfied with their landline and 69% of SMEs are satisfied with fixed line broadband.[2]
1 Source: Ofcom Communications Market Report 2016, August 2016, Figures 4.38 and 4.40: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0024/26826/cmr_uk_2016.pdf
2 Source: SME experience of communications services, January 2017, p. 33: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0030/96348/Ofcom-SME-consumer-experience-research-2016-Report.pdf
Most recent headlines
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
09/05/2025
Wooden Camera, a leading innovator in camera accessories, is proud to announce the launch of a new line of products for the Blackmagic URSA Cine Cameras. These ...
09/05/2025
LYNX Technik, provider of modular signal processing solutions is expanding its popular Series 5000 platform with three new 12G-SDI cards. The new cards provide ...
09/05/2025
Pebble, the leading automation, content management and integrated channel specialist, has completed a project to migrate ON TV, the major independent broadcaste...
09/05/2025
NUGEN Audio launches its new speech intelligibility plug-in, DialogCheck. A mono, stereo and multichannel dialog clarity meter, the software provides an objecti...
09/05/2025
Disguise the technology platform and solutions provider that powered MDL Beast Soundstorm 2024, Dubai Expo's Al Wasl Dome and visual displays at the Burj ...
09/05/2025
CVP has announced it will demonstrate its cutting-edge broadcast, live production and studio solutions at MPTS 2025. Taking place at Olympia London from 14th - ...
09/05/2025
Mediagenix, a global leader in smart content solutions to profitably connect the right content to the right audience, and White Peaks Solutions, the prominent e...
09/05/2025
SportsEngine Play, the first-of-its-kind streaming service for youth sports, has agreed to a multi-year extension with AI-automated sports content leader, Pixel...
09/05/2025
Friend MTS, a leading global provider of content protection services, today announced that TOD, the premier sports and entertainment OTT subscription service fo...
09/05/2025
ZEISS announces that it is in development on a new virtual lens technology that will allow visual effects and compositing artists to apply an authentic lens loo...
09/05/2025
At the 2025 Media Production & Technology Show (MPTS), Cerberus Tech will showcase the latest major enhancement to its Livelink IP video delivery platform the...
09/05/2025
Capitol Broadcasting Company welcomed Warren Thomas as the new Vice President an...
09/05/2025
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. Studio Technologies said the Harvard University athletics department has integrated Dante-enabled equipment from the vendor into its broadcast ...
09/05/2025
NEW YORK ITN, a provider of a local linear supply side platform, and Magnite, a independent sell-side advertising company, have announced that they working toge...
09/05/2025
LEEDS, U.K. Nugen Audio has launched a new speech intelligibility plug-in, DialogCheck and offered up quotes from technologists working at places like Netflix p...
09/05/2025
AJA I/O Gear: The Heart of Broadcast Solutions' VEGO Mobile Editing Solution
Brie Clayton May 8, 2025
0 Comments
When working remotely on broadcas...
09/05/2025
What do they teach in an Advanced Adobe After Effects Course?
Roland Kahlenberg May 8, 2025
0 Comments
There aren't many advanced After Effects co...
09/05/2025
Larry Jordan Sits with Trevor Morgan of OpenDrives at NAB 2025
Brie Clayton May 8, 2025
0 Comments
Trevor Morgan, COO of OpenDrives, shares how the co...
09/05/2025
Berklee Popular Music Institute Announces UK Festival Debut and Tour Dates For the first time, BPMI will bring Berklee-affiliated artists and students to the ...
09/05/2025
Here is your host, Patrick Kielty!
In the season finale of The Late Late Show, ...
09/05/2025
My Eurovision Party 2025 - join in on the fun with RT Kids!
Eurovision launche...
08/05/2025
A sinister fairy infiltrates a desperate family in Kenneth Dagatan's In My Mother's Skin, which premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Photo co...
08/05/2025
As expected, continued weak demand from key sales markets and declining economic...
08/05/2025
A new three-part series is coming to BBC iPlayer and BBC One
(Image: The Christie Archive Trust)
The BBC has announced Agatha Christie's Endless Night, a...
08/05/2025
For skyward-bound operators, training focuses on the unique aspects of flying ISR missions, including the management of onboard surveillance equipment and the e...
08/05/2025
The cable industry has told the Federal Communications Commission it supports the National Association of Broadcasters' proposal to allow broadcasters to us...
08/05/2025
WASHINGTON The Consumer Technology Association has continued its opposition to mandates requiring that NextGen TV/ATSC 3.0 tuners be included in new TV sets, sa...
08/05/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real time visualization, has named Paul Maroni as Vice Pres...
08/05/2025
This year's UK Pavilion in hall 5, once again managed by Tradefair, will provide visitors with the unique opportunity to discuss and be involved in cutting ...
08/05/2025
Rohde & Schwarz will showcase its latest energy-efficient transmitters and 5G Broadcast technologies, designed to support network operators and content provider...
08/05/2025
IRVING, Texas Nexstar Media Group has tapped Bill Nardi as vice president of station operations, responsible for overseeing the day-to-day broadcast operations ...
08/05/2025
SEATTLE LumaTouch is partnering with CNN Academy to improve mobile storytelling techniques and support training across all of CNN Academy's training simulat...
08/05/2025
WASHINGTON The Society of Broadcast Engineers has filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission that support a proposal by the National Association ...
08/05/2025
Senior adviser to the United States Agency for Global Media Kari Lake has announced that One America News Network (OAN) will provide newsfeed services for fre...
08/05/2025
EdMon Expands as AI-Driven Post Production Workflows Gains Traction in Sweden an...
08/05/2025
Using Luma Mattes in Adobe Premiere Pro
Graham Quince May 7, 2025
0 Comments
This very quick tutorial shows you how to take an RGB clip and apply its ...
08/05/2025
OpenDrives Unveils Free Your Data' Initiative with New Astraeus Cloud-Nativ...
08/05/2025
Student Spotlight: Grigori Balasanyan The Armenian composer, who was named Boston Conservatory at Berklees 2025 student commencement speaker, talks about his ...
08/05/2025
08 May 2025
VEON Shareholders Re-elect Board at 2025 AGM, Founder Augie Fabela ...
08/05/2025
Comedy and entertainment channel U&Dave bring back their #1 ranked programme of ...
08/05/2025
May 8th, 2025 Press Materials Available Here
Tribeca Festival 2025 Unveils New Premieres Spanning Film and Music
Slick Rick's Victory with Idris Elba a...
08/05/2025
May 8th, 2025 Press Materials Available Here
Tribeca Festival 2025 Announces Lineup for Inaugural Storytelling Summit
11-Day Industry Event Launches with Tal...
08/05/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Vizrt's Nicholas Jameson on AI in Workflows, Pushing Boundarie...
08/05/2025
Creating Alternative Brand Experiences: Live Sports in the Age of Fortnite, Meta...
08/05/2025
PGA TOUR's David Piccolo: Advanced Graphics and Virtual Production Tools are...
08/05/2025
Tech Focus: Advancing Immersion in Sports Broadcasting with AR and Virtual Produ...
08/05/2025
Expect even more chaos this July with Harriet Webb leading the returning cast, p...
08/05/2025
Back to All News
Now in Production: Comedy Action Film Husbands in Action'...
Compensation for landline and broadband customers when things go wrong 22 March 2017 
