Operators will offer more generous allowances, and be fair to customers who struggle to pay their bills on time.
A commitment to fairness and provide help: On 29 March 2020, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) of the UK Government announced an agreement with telecoms operators to provide customers with more favourable terms of service. BT/EE, Openreach, Virgin Media, Sky, TalkTalk, O2, Vodafone, Three, Hyperoptic, Gigaclear, and KCOM agreed to four commitments, with immediate effect. They will approach customers who struggle to pay their bill with fairness; they will remove all data caps on all current fixed broadband services; they will offer more generous mobile and landline services to ensure people are connected and vulnerable customers are supported; and commit to offering alternative methods of communication to vulnerable or self-isolating customers when repairs cannot be carried out.
Operators had already made voluntary commitments: The Government’s statement complements offers operators had already announced so far. These include O2 and Three have started zero-rating access to all NHS websites, and Vodafone offering 30-days free access to unlimited mobile data for 500,000 postpaid customers. BT is freezing payments for BT Sports customers, owing to the lack of content to watch, with an option to instead donate the credit to NHS charities.
