ComReg welcomes Telecoms Industry commitments to assist consumers during COVID-19

ComReg has welcomed the announcement by Telecommunications Industry Ireland, the IBEC group for the sector, that the main electronic communications providers have signed up to a common set of commitments to assist and help their customers in the use of electronic communications during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Service providers will introduce their own specific measures to meet these commitments and they may also go beyond this common set of commitments. Link to ComReg publication Link to IBEC website  Further details on the Commitments and questions you may have are listed below.  

Which Service Providers have made the Commitments?

To date, the commitments have been made by - BT Ireland, eir, Pure Telecom, Sky Ireland, Tesco Mobile Ireland, Three Ireland, Virgin Media Ireland and Vodafone.

What are the Commitments?

The Commitments are set out below:

1. Any fixed broadband customers who do not have unlimited usage already as standard will be given the opportunity, if they require, to upgrade their package (which may be on a temporary basis), with their current service provider.
2. Any customer who does not have fixed broadband and who relies solely on mobile access to the Internet will have the opportunity to avail of affordable unlimited mobile data access/package from their service provider.
3. Fair usage policies will not be automatically applied to unlimited fixed and mobile data packages.
4. Service providers may implement appropriate permitted traffic management measures to avoid network congestion.
5. Access to healthcare and educational resource websites identified by the Government will be zero-rated for all customers where technically feasible.
6. So that customers can remain connected during the crisis, service providers will engage with any customer that contacts them who is in financial difficulty as a result of COVID-19 and has difficulty paying their bills to agree the best way of keeping them connected to voice and data.
7. Service Providers will work with ComReg in the event of complaints raised to ComReg by consumers, who consider they are not being treated in accordance with these commitments.

When will the Commitments be implemented and for how long?

These commitments will be implemented by operators as soon as practicable. Each service provider will provide details and implementation updates on their own website. The commitments will remain available to consumers until 30 June 2020 and will be reviewed in advance of that date if needed.

Where will I get more information about my service provider?

Service providers will introduce their own specific measures to meet these commitments and they may also go beyond this common set of commitments.  Service providers’ websites will be updated with further information.  Please see links to the relevant pages below: [table id=84 /] (Information accurate as at 16 April 2020)

What will I do if I experience issues relating to the Commitments?

Customers experiencing issues should contact their service provider in the first instance, before contacting ComReg’s Consumer Care Team at consumerline@comreg.ie or 01 8049668 (from 8.00am to 8.00pm Monday to Friday and 9.00am to 1.00pm on Saturday, excluding public holidays).