Report calls on UK’s Ofcom to get tough on providers that promise fast speeds but fail to deliver
Millions of United Kingdom broadband customers who do not get the connection speeds they pay for should receive compensation. A new report calls on Ofcom, the UK media and telecommunications regulator, to get tough on broadband providers that promise fast speeds but fail to deliver. The British infrastructure group of Members of Parliament (MPs), led by former Tory party chairman Grant Shapps, estimates that as many as 6.7 million UK broadband connections may not hit the 10Mb minimum that the government wants to be the UK standard for a basic decent service. The Broadband 2.0 report, which is backed by 57 MPs, calls for automatic compensation for customers who do not get the level of speed promised from the internet packages they buy. “Although broadband is increasingly considered to be an essential utility, the quality of customer services has simply not caught up with demand,” said Shapps. “It is unacceptable that there are still no minimum standards in the UK telecoms sector to protect customers from protracted complaints procedures, and ensure that broadband providers are fully accountable to their customers.”