Constructive dismissal
Telco regulator Ofcom is having a busy time of it recently; what it giveth to the BBC on one hand, it taketh away from UK landline operators.
Ofcom has announced that, following pressure from itself over the past 18 months, BT TalkTalk and Virgin Media will be cutting the early termination fees they charge when customers end their contracts prematurely by up to 85 percent. This also applies to landline/broadband bundles.
It looks like some customers, if they end their contacts early, not only have to pay for the remainder of it anyway, but sometimes get stung for even more than that. Ofcom makes the point that it's a bit cheeky of telcos to even charge for the remainder of the contract, given the savings they make by not haning to offer the service anymore.
Of course the three telcos in question don't think their charges were unfair. But following ‘constructive discussions' with Ofcom, they decided to do what they were told. Other landline providers are expected to follow suit, or face really constructive discussions.
TalkTalk has apparently already introduced the new charges, but BT and VM will wait until October and TalkTalk's Tiscali arm will introduce new charges on 1 November. "We very much welcome the reductions made by BT, TalkTalk and Virgin Media which mean that consumers will face much lower charges if they wish to end their contracts early," said Ofcom's Peter Phillips, constructively.
Here's Ofcom's before-and-after table
|
Provider and package |
Voice |
Broadband |
Early termination charge before Ofcom statement * |
Most recent early termination charge* |
New early termination charge * |
|
BT Weekend |
√ |
- |
£11.54 |
£7.50 |
£2.00 |
|
BT Evening and Weekend |
√ |
- |
£14.53 |
£7.50 |
£2.50 |
|
BT Unlimited Anytime |
√ |
- |
£16.53 |
£8.00 |
£5.00 |
|
TalkTalk Evening and Weekend |
√ |
- |
£14.44 |
£14.44 |
£3.00 |
|
Talk Talk Anytime |
√ |
- |
£16.98 |
£16.98 |
£3.00 |
|
TalkTalk Essential1 |
√ |
√ |
£18.48 |
£18.48 |
£8.00 |
|
TalkTalk Essential2 |
√ |
√ |
£33.48 |
£33.48 |
£8.00 |
|
Virgin Media (cable) Phone3 |
√ |
- |
£11.99 |
£11.99 |
£4.00 |
|
Virgin Media (cable) Broadband L3 |
- |
√ |
£12.50 |
£12.50 |
£9.00 |
|
Virgin Media (National) Broadband L & Phone M1 |
√ |
√ |
£25.99 |
£25.99 |
£8.35 then £6.35 |
|
Virgin Media (National) Broadband L & Phone M2 |
√ |
√ |
£29.99 |
£29.99 |
£6.63 |
* Charges are monthly for remainder of contract. Prior to its 1 June changes, TalkTalk's practice was to cap total early termination charges at £70. Virgin Media does not enforce the cable charge shown and its current approach in practice is to discount the charges to £10/month for each cable service shown.
1 Provided by local loop unbundling
2 Not provided by local loop unbundling
3 Virgin Media cable customers taking phone and broadband will pay both charges
