Major UK business organisations are urging telecoms regulator Ofcom to expand the automatic compensation scheme for broadband outages so it covers all businesses.
A voluntary system introduced in 2019 currently provides consumers with automatic compensation for delayed repairs, missed engineer appointments, and delays to new service activations. Under that framework—adopted by several internet service providers—consumers typically receive about £9.76 per day for delays that exceed two working days if the fault lies on the provider’s network rather than the customer’s premises. Missed appointments can attract around £30.49 in compensation, while delays to new activations are typically compensated at about £6.10 per day.
Although Ofcom’s compensation regime already covers some business lines, its scope is limited to services sold as domestic-grade fixed-line broadband. The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and the Institute of Directors (IoD) say that limited coverage fails to protect many firms and are pressing the regulator to broaden the scheme to include all business connections.
In a joint letter to Ofcom Chief Executive Dame Melanie Dawes, the organisations emphasised the central role of reliable connectivity in supporting economic activity and sustaining business operations.
“Connectivity is a key enabler of economic growth,” the letter states. “Our members tell us that resilient and reliable connectivity helps all types of businesses operate successfully. Loss of connectivity has a significant impact on productivity.”
The groups pointed to research showing the scale of the problem: more than half of UK businesses reported at least one connectivity outage in the past year, a situation estimated to have cost the economy around £17.6 billion in lost output. Even modest improvements in network resilience, they argue, would therefore produce outsized productivity benefits across the UK economy.
The letter also highlights the current compensation gap. Despite frequent outages, 61% of businesses surveyed received no compensation—findings that mirror Ofcom’s own concerns about service quality and inadequate redress in the business broadband market.
The campaigners point to the success of Ofcom’s automatic compensation scheme for residential customers as a model. By making it easier for consumers to receive automatic payments when things go wrong, they say, the scheme created incentives for providers to improve reliability and reduce the number and duration of outages.
They propose an expanded, mandatory automatic compensation framework for business customers that would deliver several benefits:
- Improved network resilience and fewer outages: Stronger incentives for providers would help reduce downtime and boost productivity across the economy.
- Market differentiation for providers: Firms that exceed minimum reliability standards could use enhanced compensation terms as a competitive advantage.
- Greater confidence in redress: Businesses would gain assurance that compensation for service failures is consistent, transparent and readily accessible.
“Supporting businesses to increase productivity and economic growth is critical,” the letter concludes. “Solutions that drive improvements in UK connectivity infrastructure will play an important role in achieving this.”
The call for expanded automatic compensation reflects growing frustration among UK businesses that rely on broadband for daily operations, and underscores pressure on Ofcom to take concrete steps to strengthen protections and accountability in the business broadband market.
(Photo by Jadon Kelly)
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