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The deal will provide compensation for customers who are left without broadband services for an extended period
The UK’s broadband network infrastructure provider, Openreach, has agreed an automatic compensation deal for customers with 5 internet service providers, according to a report by the BBC.
Customers with BT, Sky, TalkTalk, Virgin Media and Zen Internet will receive £8 per day if they are left without broadband services for longer than 48 hours. EE and Plusnet have also said that they would be interested in joining the scheme.
“Automatic compensation is the right thing to do for customers, and that’s why we’ve been proactively compensating our wholesale customers for every appointment we miss, and any delays to repairs and provisions, since 2008.
“We have fully supported Ofcom’s voluntary Code of Practice since its inception, and are pleased to have reached an agreement with those Communication Providers intending to offer automatic compensation," an Openreach spokesperson told Total Telecom.
The UK’s telecoms regulator, Ofcom, had previously released details of its voluntary compensation scheme, which is set to be implemented in early 2019.
The deal will be made available to residential and small business customers. It will also include a payment of £25 if an Openreach engineer is forced to cancel an appointment within 24 hours.
Openreach has also agreed to pay compensation when tenants prevent the company from accessing its own infrastructure, for example if access is restricted by a parked car. However, it said that it would not pay compensation in the event of "measures beyond reasonable control".
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