Currently, a voluntary program has been in place that compensates consumers for delays in repairs, missed appointments and delays in new service activations.
As a result, many ISPs have adopted this system, which generally provides customers with £9.76 per day for delays beyond two working days, if the issue originates from the ISP's network rather than the customer's premises.
Meanwhile, missed appointments can lead to £30.49 in compensation, while delays in activating new services are compensated at a rate of £6.10 per day.
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In an open letter addressed to Ofcom CEO, Dame Melaine Dawes, the business groups stated: “We know from our members that having access to resilient and reliable connectivity helps all types of businesses to operate successfully. And that loss of connectivity has a significant impact on productivity.
“Supporting businesses to increase productivity and economic growth is critical, and solutions which drive improvements in UK connectivity infrastructure will play an important role in achieving this.”
The group also cited research by Vorboss, which stated over 61% of businesses that experienced an outage in the last year did not receive any compensation, with 44% stating requesting compensation wasn’t worth the time and effort.
Vorboss chief corporate affairs officer, James Fredrickson, added: “It’s clear from the responses of the biggest business internet providers that compensation is anything but automatic. Hiding behind compensating on a ‘case-by-case’ basis is exactly what Ofcom needs to put a stop to.
“By forcing internet providers to automatically compensate, Ofcom would incentivise networks to minimise outages and compete on resilience of connectivity. Our research shows that even marginal improvements will have dramatic productivity benefits for UK businesses.”
Vorboss Founding CEO Tim Creswick, concluded: “We should all be incentivised to compete on quality – that would force an uplift in network performance, and in turn drive a much-needed economic boost.
“The support of these business groups moves businesses one step closer to getting the protection and service they need.”
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