Millions of homes should get a cash refund on broadband
Nearly seven million households should be given refunds on their broadband bills because they are not getting the designated minimum speed, MPs said yesterday.
Their cross-party committee said 6.7million of the country’s 22million broadband connections were slower than the proposed minimum download of 10 megabits per second.
It also found that fewer than half of all connections were ‘superfast’ â€" above 24 megabits. MPs said this painted ‘a worrying picture for post-Brexit Britain’s competitiveness’. The findings cast further doubt on the Government’s pledge to have superfast broadband in 95 per cent of the country by the end of the year.
Nearly seven million households should be given refunds on their broadband bills because they are not getting the designated minimum speed, MPs said yesterday (file picture)
The report describes the sector as ‘characterised by self-regulation, a lack of transparency, and an absence of minimum standards that fail to protect the rights of broadband customers’. Grant Shapps, the Conservative MP who is chairman of the British Infrastructure Group, said: ‘With the country leaving the European Union in 20 months’ time, being ready for the global fight means having the best internet in the world.
‘The current situation is simply not good enough and this report calls on the Government, Ofcom and internet providers to speed up delivery.’
An Ofcom report in April this year said broadband customers were only getting around half the speed they pay for.
In March, BT was fined £42million after it took too long to deliver superfast broadband to businesses. The Advertising Standards Agency has already called for a change in the way broadband speed claims are promoted.
It found that millions were being ripped off by broadband providers and barely 10 per cent received the superfast speeds promised by their suppliers. As a result, more than 15million households get slow internet due to a loophole in which firms could advertise broadband as ‘up to’ certain speeds.
Today’s report criticised the standard of customer service and complaints procedures offered by internet providers. It advocates a compensation scheme of £10 a day for loss of service and £30 for a missed appointment.
It revealed that the industry claimed that an automatic compensation scheme would ‘harm market competition’.
Market leader BT received more complaints that any other provider in the first three months of this year. MPs said its compensation agreement was ‘vague, unregulated and not transparent’.
Underlining the importance of access to the internet, the report says: ‘Broadband is increasingly considered to be akin to any other utility such as water or gas. However, unlike in other utilities markets, there are still no minimum standards for broadband customer services, nor regulations governing compensation payments.’
It noted that consumers consider internet essential, adding: ‘When broadband services fail, the difficulties caused can be disruptive as a power cut or loss of water supply.’
The MPs accused Ofcom of failing to clearly distinguish between those who did not want superfast broadband and those who did not receive the speeds they paid for.
Ofcom previously found 1.4million people had download speeds below 10 megabits per second. MPs argued the system made it ‘almost impossible’ to determine how many households did not receive the speeds set out in their contracts.
This is disputed by Ofcom, which said it provided ‘robust, comprehensive data on broadband take-up and availability’.
The report also noted that the areas that received the slowest speeds had not changed significantly over the past three years and were ‘predominantly rural’.
MPs said the voluntary nature of the complaints and compensation system was ‘insufficient’.
A spokesman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said last night: ‘Almost 95 per cent of the UK can now get superfast broadband, but we know millions of homes and businesses have not yet chosen to upgrade.’
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