PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Telecommunications: Disconnections (2 June 2020)

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department holds data on the number of disconnections as a result of unpaid bills of (a) broadband, (b) mobile phone and (c) landline services on a (i) daily, (ii) weekly, (iii) monthly and (iv) any other basis over the last two years.

Asked by:
James Murray (Labour)

Ofcom, the independent telecoms regulator, monitors and carries out research on issues faced by vulnerable consumers, including those around debt and affordability. Ofcom is currently monitoring the affordability of communications services, looking at households which have difficulty paying for these, in particular in relation to broadband. It will publish its findings in Q3 2020/21.

Ofcom’s 2018 Access and Inclusion report found that around one in ten (9%) of those responsible for paying for their household’s communication services said they had experienced difficulties paying their bills.

More broadly, as part of Government’s response to Covid-19, we have agreed a package of measures with the UK’s major fixed and mobile providers to support and protect consumers with their connectivity needs. This package was agreed on 29 March 2020, with further companies signing up on 18 May. As part of the commitments, providers have agreed to work with customers who find it difficult to pay their bill as a result of Covid-19, to ensure that they are treated fairly and appropriately supported.

Answered by:
Matt Warman (Conservative)
8 June 2020