Broadband customers are set to be given new rights to exit a contract if their broadband speeds drop below what they were promised, Ofcom has announced today.
From March next year, providers will have to give a minimum guaranteed speed to a potential customer at the point of sale. If that customer’s speed drops below this level, the provider has one month to improve performance before the customer has the right to walk away penalty free.
This new right to exit will also apply to landline and TV packages bought at the same time as broadband. And as an extra protection, providers will be forced to provide more realistic peak-time speed information upfront.
Currently, broadband providers are not required to give a minimum speed until after the point of sale and estimated speeds do not reflect the reduction in speed which commonly happens at peak times.
The new requirements will come into force for services purchased from March 2019. They are being implemented by changing the code of practice to which all the major internet providers are signed up to.
The measures have been strongly welcome by local MP John Lamont, who said they will go some way to address the frustrations felt by many broadband customers in the Borders.
John Lamont MP said: “It is far too common for customers in the Borders to be paying for a broadband package which does not reflect what they were sold.
“People are rightly frustrated when they are told they will be getting a certain speed only for the reality to be very different.
“These new rules will make it so much clearer for customers what they will actually be getting before they sign a contract and give them a wider right to leave if the broadband provider does not deliver.
“Alongside the UK Government’s Universal Service Obligation, which gives everyone a legal right to a decent broadband speed, we are making progress to strengthen customer’s rights. For too long, people in many parts of the Borders have been paying too much for a poor broadband service and this has to end.”
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Notes to Editors
Further details of the measures can be found here:
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/consultations-and-statements/category-1/broadb…